A Woman Scorned
by GingerWitchWriter
Summary: Now that Hermione has completed her last year at school and both her and Ron are settling into their respective careers, Ron had assumed that life would settle into a happy, simple routine enjoyed by most other young couples. But, when has life ever gone smoothly for these Gryffindors? A bit of everything - romance, angst, humor, mystery, suspense, drama. Will be rated M later!
1. Chapter 1

Sorry...this has actually been ready to post for weeks, and I just haven't found the right moment to post it. So, this is the beginning of my new multi-chapter story. It's all written (but needs final editing), so I hope to be able to post a new chapter every week or every other week. I'm a bit scared to let it go public, as it's a bit different for me, but I really do hope you like it.

Also, I just wanted to let you know that one of my stories 'What's in A Name', has been nominated in the Romione Tumblr awards. I have no idea who nominated me, but thank you so much to whoever that was - totally made my month (and this time of year is always a struggle!) I am honoured to be nominated, even though I doubt I'll win simply because I don't have a following on Tumblr and I'm not one of the more popular writers here. But, if you wanted to go vote for me once the voting opens, I would love you!

Just an FYI, this begins around October 1999. Now, on with the story - I shall shut up - sorry!

* * *

 **Chapter One**

"Oh yuck! Seriously?" Harry grumbled, slapping a hand over his eyes as he stumbled the rest of his way into the kitchen. "Do you have to do that before I've even had breakfast? I'll lose my appetite!" He blindly reached out for a chair and sat down in it heavily.

"We were only kissing!" Hermione scowled at him, but backed away from me all the same.

"Open your eyes you daft prat!" I slapped the back of his head. "We're both fully dressed. It was just a kiss!" I caught Hermione's eye over his head and rolled my eyes. She chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, well, I don't need to see that first thing in the morning either." He continued to grumble whilst reaching for the tea pot. "Not after what I had to hear last night as well," he added under his breath.

"What about last night?" I asked, just catching the end of his mutterings.

"Nothing." Harry continued to pour his tea.

"Ron, I need to get going," Hermione called my attention back to her as she picked up the packed lunch she'd just made herself and stuck it in her bag. "Walk me to the floo?" she asked.

I frowned for a moment, the fireplace was not 10 steps away from the kitchen in this small flat Harry and I shared, why did she need me to...oh! I realised as she gave me a smile – she wanted to say goodbye away from the scrutiny of grumpy drawers in there. Holding out her hand to me, pleased that I had understood and we left Harry to his bad mood, Hermione calling goodbye to him as the kitchen door swung closed behind us.

"Yeah, bye!" he muttered.

"So, I'll come by and pick you up after work?" I checked our plans. I actually had the day off today, since Harry and I had been out on raids most of the weekend. "We can get dinner or something?" I suggested.

"Sounds good." She leaned forward and softly kissed my lips.

I smiled. "Great. So, have a good day, love and I'll see you later."

"Six o'clock." She reminded me with what was supposed to be a stern expression, the secret smile on her lips ruined the illusion though. And then, giving a sad little sigh and a softly whispered 'bye', she stepped into the fireplace, waved and in a flash of green flames, she vanished.

After she'd left, I was in two minds over whether to climb back into bed to catch up on some needed sleep or go eat breakfast. My stomach chose that moment to rumble – breakfast it was then! Besides, there was something rather urgent that I wanted to talk to Harry about.

He was sat flicking through the newspaper, munching on some toast and nursing his cup of tea when I joined him with a bowl and the box of cheeriowls. "So," I started, pouring the cereal and then the milk he'd left out on the table into my bowl. "Something really bloody weird happened last night!"

"Eurgh, please," Harry pulled a revolted face at me. "I do not want to know!" He held his hand up in the generalised 'stop' gesture. "I don't want any details whatsoever about any kinky crap you two get up to! The noises are bad enough." He pulled that face again, as though he was about to puke.

"What the bloody hell are….oh, eurgh!" It dawned on me what he was getting at. "As if I'd tell you anything like that, mate!" I scoffed as I scooped up a spoonful of cereal – what went on between Hermione and I in the bedroom was very private. "Listen, I had...hang on, what noises?" I stopped with the spoon inches from my mouth.

Harry looked up, raising both eyebrows as he sighed heavily, like I should know what he meant. "Firstly," he began, folding the newspaper up and setting it aside, "if Hermione is going to be living here too then we need to..."

"She's not living here." I cut him off.

"Really? Because she's here more often than she's not. In the past week, she's slept what, two nights at her parents?" He cocked one eyebrow in question and then shook his head. "Anyway, we're going to need some ground rules. You know I love Hermione as though she were my sister, but there are some things I just don't need to know, okay?"

"Okay, fine," I huffed and shoved the cereal into my mouth. Maybe if I let him get this off his chest he'd finally let me talk.

"Right, number one. Always, always, _always_ , and I can not stress that enough! But, for Merlin's sake, put a bloody silencing charm on your room when you're...in there together!" he muttered the last few words.

"We always do." I replied through my mouthful of food.

"Didn't last night, you git!" Harry peered at me over the frame of his glasses.

"Oh." I felt my ears burn. "Shit. Yeah, right...silencing charms - agreed. Anything else?"

"Number two." He was counting this off on his fingers. "No snogging in the kitchen at breakfast. Please, let a man wake up first!" He rolled his eyes,

"Are you just pissed because Ginny has been away at that Quidditch training camp for the last week and isn't due home for another couple of days?" That could explain his bad mood this morning.

"If I said yes, would you be thrilled I was frustrated because I missed your sister?" he asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

"Erm...no." I quickly realised as I stirred the food in my bowl.

"Right then. Number three," he held up three fingers now. "I don't enjoy finding your underwear or Hermione's...delicates all over the bloody flat, all right? If you can't undress in private, like normal people, at least pick up after yourselves!"

"Yeah, sorry. We got a bit carried away last night." I knew my ears had to have turned a lovely shade of red by the way I felt them burning.

"I don't want to know anything. Just, keep it to your room, right? Number four..."

"How many of these are there? Because there is something I really want to talk to you about."

"A few!" he snapped back.

Damn...he was in such a sour mood – he probably did need to get laid. Oh great, now I was thinking of him with my sister damn it! Shit! Quick! Think of something else. Anything else...erm...bacon sandwiches, yum. The Cannons game this weekend.

"Number four," he disturbed the ludicrous image of the Cannons team playing the game whilst eating bacon butties that had been filling my head. "The shower is a one person shower only. We do not have a current drought so we don't need to conserve water and I'm sure she can manage alone. Would you want to take a shower after me if I had taken my girlfriend in there with me?"

"Your girlfriend is my bloody sister mate, watch it!" I pointed my spoon at him, threateningly.

"Just proving a point." He smiled wickedly at me – he seemed to be enjoying this far too much. Sometimes I honestly wondered why I was his best mate. "Number five. If Hermione is staying over, get some extra food in – don't eat everything and then forget to replace it. Do you know how many times I have found empty milk bottles in the cold storage?"

"All right, fine. Though I am curious whether these 'rules'," I used to my fingers to draw quotes in the air, "apply to both of us here? Because you know Ginny eats far more when she's here than Hermione ever does!"

"They're house rules. For all of us, so we can live together in harmony."

"Good." I nodded. "So, I apologise for not replacing food occasionally, but it's not always me! Is that it?"

"I think that's it for now. Just, please, never ever forget number one again. I think I'm scarred for life!" he shuddered.

"Believe me, I regret that more than you do! I suppose we were a little distracted last night since we hadn't seen each other for a few days. But I'll make sure in future. And I'll agree to all those other rules so long as you stick to them too! Now, will you shut up so I can I tell you something?" I finally asked, impatiently.

"Fine, so long as it's nothing private." He folded his arms.

I rolled my eyes. "Mate, I am never, ever going to tell you anything private about us, get it? Never!"

"That's a relief," Harry muttered to himself.

I chose to ignore him as I spooned more cereal into my mouth. "So, anyway last night I had this weird bloody dream…"

"Really?" He raised one eyebrow incredulously. "Even with all the noise you two were making last night, you actually found time to fall asleep and dream?" He shook his head.

"Ha ha!" I mocked, throwing a tea towel at him across the table – it hit him in the face. "Aren't you hilarious? Now, shut up and listen. So, this dream was just...really bloody weird. I mean, there was this horrid sense of foreboding, and..."

"Ron," Harry interrupted, whilst trying hard not to laugh, "you have weird dreams all the time you prat! Don't you remember last weekend when you told me you dreamt a giant cake was chasing you through the halls of Hogwarts trying to eat you? Or...how about the other week after Hermione had dragged you to that Muggle department store, you had dreams about the mannequins coming to life and forcing you to perform in a Christmas pantomime whilst wearing a tutu! Barmy your dreams are!" He was openly chuckling about it now.

"Yeah, but this dream was different." I insisted loudly to get his attention again. "This one actually scared me!" I admitted.

"Scared you? Are the nightmares back?" he asked, the laughter stopped and he actually sounding concerned. We all knew the horrors we'd experienced during the war still haunted us from time to time.

I shook my head. "No, not really. It..." I sighed, wondering how best to explain it. "All I could really sense was that Hermione wasn't safe...that someone was out to get her," I frowned, knowing that sounded stupid. "And whatever is was, was causing problems between us, making us fight more and..."

Harry snorted. "You don't need anything to make the pair of you fight, you've been at it since you were 11 years old. I've known you have a full blazing row for two hours straight over the way you breathe through your mouth!" he rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious here, Harry!" I scowled at him. "Look, in this dream everything felt...off somehow. It was as though someone or something was just trying to get rid of her – she seemed to be in danger all the time but we didn't know what from and..." I shook my head, "it was just too bloody weird."

"Just sounds like another of your rather bizarre dreams to me. Though, I can see why it would shake you up." Harry shrugged, setting his tea cup down.

"It did. I woke up in a right panic, thinking it was real. The relief I felt when I realised she was actually sleeping safely beside me was palpable and..."

"Palpable?" he frowned. "Is that a Hermione word? I think you're spending too much time with her, you know," he shook his head sadly.

"Shut it!" I glared, giving him the finger.

"Look, I'm sure it was just one of your weird dreams. I mean, after the lack of sleep this weekend with the raids and not seeing Hermione so much, I'm sure that's all it was." Harry shrugged, unperturbed.

I flicked a stray cheeriowl off the table at him. "Well, I don't!" I huffed. "I think someone is out to cause problems for us, and they're going to try...something. It felt too real, all right!" I tossed my spoon back into my now empty bowl.

"Still think you're reading far too much into it. I agree it sounds like a horrid dream, but, I really don't think it's anything to worry about. We have enough crap to stress us out without adding your dreams to it. You just need to catch up on some sleep."

"Perhaps," I agreed with a slight shrug. "But, I'm still going to be keeping my eyes open for anything weird going on." I vowed, getting up to dump my bowl in the sink. "Though, now that you mention sleep, I'm going to grab a couple more hours." I told him, already heading back to my bedroom, and the bed that smelt entirely of my girlfriend.

* * *

'Ello? Please, I 'elp you?" A young witch stopped me from heading straight through to Hermione's desk at the Magical Creature Department in the Ministry where she had been working for the past four months.

"Erm, what?" I stopped and glanced up, only to find a welcome witch sat at her own reception desk just outside the department. Well, that was new! But then the entire Ministry was still being revolutionised and security measures constantly improved since the end of the war.

"I can 'elp?" She asked me again.

I realised she was still waiting for my reply. "Oh, no, I'm just, I'm here to..."

"Oh, but you ees Ron Weasley, non?" She asked, looking much more interested now as a big smile grew on her face.

"Erm, yeah," I nodded and rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. Over 18 months after the war and I still wasn't used to the recognition or the near hero worship we all received. I sometimes felt like a member of the Weird Sisters when I was out in public and people stopped me to talk or asked me to sign something! I hadn't a clue why I had ever envied Harry for his fame back in school – I could certainly do without it now.

"I 'ave of course seen your photo een zhe magazine." She flicked her long hair back as she stepped from behind her desk towards me. "But, zey 'ave not show you...'ow you say, 'andsome you are." She smiled, her eyes looking me up and down.

"Erm, right...thanks," I muttered, feeling myself blush as I took a step back.

"Zey said you est courageux...what you did in zhe war." She finally met my eyes as she gazed at me in awe.

I shrugged. "Yeah, but I didn't do it all alone, you know. A lot of people fought in the war."

"But, you est 'ero, non?" She sidled even closer.

"I suppose that's what they say," I sighed. I had at first been excited by the attention and being called a hero, now it just annoyed me. I was no more of a hero than Fred had been, or Tonks, Bill, Colin, Mum or the countless others who had also fought. "Obviously, you didn't go to Hogwarts, did you?" I asked, realising she only looked a couple of years older than me and that I didn't recognise her.

"Oh, non," she giggled. "I am from Frans. I went to Beauxbaxtons of course," she added, with that superior air that students from that school seemed to have. "I came here to Eengland to emprove my eengleesh."

"I see," I nodded. How had I missed her accent before? Of course she was French. "My sister-in-law, Fleur, she's French too." I nodded and checked my watch – I was going to be late in picking Hermione up at this rate!

"Fleur?" she queried.

"Yeah, she went to your school too. Came to work at Gringotts to, erm...well get better in English too. That's where she met my brother and they're married now." I finished, wondering why I was telling my family story to a complete stranger. She had got me rather flummoxed though.

"I see. Zhat is good, oui?" I could've sworn she batted her eyelashes up at me.

"Yeah, she's great." I flicked away the comment with a wave of my hand. "Anyway, I was actually only here to pick up...oh, here she is!" I grinned, seeing Hermione coming through the double doors that led to the offices and desks within. "Hey, love," I greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi," she replied, "I was beginning to think you had forgotten."

"Course not, I actually got here a few minutes ago, but got waylaid talking to erm, sorry...I didn't catch your name?"

"Céleste." She replied, returning to her desk now and shuffling some papers around.

"I was talking with Céleste. She's from France." I explained, helping Hermione with her cloak.

"Oh, yes, we met earlier. Bonjour." Hermione smiled politely.

Céleste gave her a very brief smile before turning her attention back to tidying her desk and ignoring the pair of us.

"Right, well shall we get going?" I smiled at Hermione.

"Yes. I'm ready." She looped her bag over her arm and took my hand.

"Bye Céleste," I called as we headed out together.

She looked up and smiled. "Eet was nice to meet you Ron. Most enjoyable. Per'aps I will see you again? Oui?"

"Er, yeah...maybe." I replied.

"She was flirting with you!" Hermione hissed a few seconds later as we waited for the elevator.

I wrinkled my nose. "Don't be daft! She was just being friendly. I was telling her about Fleur."

"Hmm," she sighed, disbelieving.

I grinned to myself. "Jealous?" I whispered against her ear.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Absolutely not!" she looked insulted. "I just thought she was a bit rude." she folded her arms across her chest. "Did you not notice her complete dismissal of me when I spoke to her?"

"Yeah, right," I laughed to myself, not believing her for a moment, but then quickly shut up when she elbowed me in the gut just as the lift arrived.

We travelled down in the crowded lift in silence and then spilled out into the busy atrium bustling with rush hour as most people left work for the night. I took Hermione's hand again, giving her a smile as we headed for the floo.

"So...you coming back to mine tonight or are you going home after dinner?" I wondered, hoping she'd be coming back with me.

She sighed. "I suppose I should show my face at home eventually, prove to my parents that I haven't actually moved out, no matter what they think." She rolled her eyes. Her parents thought we were far too young to be moving in together and would only permit her to move out if she were moving to a place of her own or with a friend – stressing the fact that that did not include a boyfriend. Since she considered it a waste of money to get her own place, she juggled her time between her parents house and the flat, trying to keep everyone happy.

I nodded. "Might be for the best actually. Harry has busied himself all day with drawing up some new house rules."

"House rules?" She frowned. "What for? Why?"

"For us apparently." I shrugged. "Seems we forgot to put the silencing charm on our room last night, and he claims he's now scarred for life or something. Stupid prat! Bloody worse for me to hear him with my sister, eurgh!" I stuck my tongue out, miming being sick at the very idea of them together. I so didn't need that image in my head.

"Oh dear," Hermione gasped, her hand to her mouth.

"Exactly!" I nodded. "So, now he's on some rampage to ruin all our fun and freedom at the flat just because he's pissed off Ginny is away training so much."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason. I mean, you two do share the flat and it's only reasonable you should be considerate around one another."

"Really? Because you might be interested to know he's also putting a ban on anyone sharing the shower or showing affection in the kitchen in the morning." I told her, one eyebrow raised as I waited for her expected reaction.

"Idiot!" she hissed just as it was our turn to step into the floo and head over to the Leaky Cauldron.

"See!" I told her, as though our conversation hadn't been paused whilst we'd hurtled through fireplaces in a cloak of green flames. "So, anyway, just a quick dinner tonight and then I have to lose you?" I pouted at the thought.

"I'm afraid so." She smiled and kissed my pouty lips, chuckling at me. "It will only be for a couple of nights Ron, to keep my parents happy. Beside, I'll see you at work, we can meet up for lunch?"

"I know," I sighed, realising it was the best I was going to get for now. "Come on, let's go eat." I took her hand and led her from the floo located in a back room and into the main bar to order our meal.

* * *

Hoped you liked - would really appreciate it you could take a couple of moments to leave me a review. Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you SO much for all the feedback and support for the first chapter of this story - it is very much appreciated! I am back with the second chapter, apologies for the slight delay :)_

 _Also, please don't forget I have been nominated in the Ron and Hermione 2016 Tumblr awards (totally honored!) for my story 'What's in a Name' in the romance fanfiction section. I would be so grateful if you could vote for me, you can do so at / s / J65HoUts# / 0 - copy and paste into a browser, but delete the gaps and instead a . Thank you SO much! I realise I am relatively new to Harry Potter fanfiction here, so I don't have the big following others have. Thanks again._

 _Now, on with the story._

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

The following weekend turned out to be utterly shite. I'd received a very hurried patronus from Hermione on the Friday afternoon with a brief message to say she wouldn't be able to see me over the weekend because she was going away with her parents. And then, to make matters worse, Mum had somehow found out I was free and asked me to come over, only to find myself roped into cleaning up the garden for her and Dad and building a new chicken coop with Bill. I wouldn't have minded too much – except those chickens bloody hate me and my ankles were now covered in scratches from their evil little beaks!

Today might be the first time in my life I was actually glad to have Monday creep up on us again – I could escape Mum's clutches and Hermione would be home. I took the note she had sent late last night and re-read it as I waited on the street.

 _Dearest Ron,_

 _I am so sorry about this weekend. My parents absolutely insisted on spiriting me away with them for Dad's birthday – they would not take no for an answer. And believe me, I did try to refuse! I can understand them wanting to spend more time with me, I know I spend most nights with you, but still – they might have asked._

 _Anyway, the weekend has been okay I suppose, though it's very quiet at the seaside this time of year and most of the amusements are closed, so Dad dragged us out on lots of thrilling walks instead! I really missed you and our weekend together, but I will be home tomorrow, so would you please, please meet me for lunch?_

 _Meet me in our usual place and we can head to our café together. I look forward to it._

 _All my love,_

 _Hermione xx_

I re-folded the note and stuck it back into my pocket again before glancing down the street, hoping to see Hermione on her way. I told myself I had only glanced at her note again to check I was waiting in the right place and that I hadn't simply been reading through her words again because I missed her. After all, only love sick fools did that, and I wasn't one of them I muttered to myself, ignoring the look of the well worn paper from opening and re-folding it a dozen times.

I glanced behind me to check I was standing in the right place and nodded to myself – just outside the Muggle bank on the corner of the hight street as usual. It was a handy spot, because we were able to Apparate behind a broken telephone box in a disused alley and then we were within walking distance of the little Muggle café we had found that we liked to go to for lunch. It was nice because no one knew us, so we could eat in peace without being bothered by admirer's and the like.

Hermione was late, and I found myself wishing there was a bench to sit on when I'd already been waiting 20 minutes and there was still no sign of her. I suppose she hadn't stated an exact time in her note, but I was sure we usually broke for lunch at the same time. My stomach was already rumbling and I grumbled under my breath, knowing I only had about half an hour left before I'd have to head back to work and she knew I hated being rushed through a meal!

Growing increasingly frustrated I began to pace up and down the pavement, realising that the people inside the bank might think there was something suspicious about me. They probably thought I was staking the place out with the intention of committing a robbery. They didn't need to know my bank robbing days were well and truly behind me. I glanced at my watch again just as the first rain drop splashed down right onto the watch face. I swore under my breath before glancing up at the sky – oh perfect – now it was starting to pour with rain! The lunch break I'd been looking forward to was rapidly becoming a joke!

I considered just heading to the café by myself to at least grab a sandwich, but then realised I might miss Hermione if I moved now, so remained where I was, waiting for her. Before I knew it, it was the end of my lunch break, Hermione had never shown up and now I had to head back to work, not only pissed off, but starving hungry too.

"Raining outside, mate?" Harry asked, glancing up at me when I returned to our joint cubicle.

"No!" I snapped grumpily, throwing myself into my chair. "Thought I'd throw myself in the river!" I huffed.

Noting my tone, Harry looked up again and then frowned at my expression. "Okay, what's up?" he wondered, setting down his quill and turning towards me as I rummaged around for something to dry my hair on. It was dripping all over my desk and the last thing I needed was having to redo all the bloody paperwork I had slaved over that morning because it was now smudged with blasted rain drops!

"Stupid bloody women, that's what!" I grunted in reply, finally finding an old T-shirt that had somehow become discarded here and vigorously rubbed my hair with it.

"I take it lunch didn't go well?"

"Didn't bloody turn up, did she? Now I've wasted my entire lunch hour, I'm hungry and I'm soaking bloody wet!"

Harry grimaced and patted my shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sure she didn't mean to stand you up. And, here," he pointed his wand at me, muttered the charm and I was dry within seconds.

"Yeah, forgot that. Thanks." I muttered, opening my drawer in the hopes I might find some sweets or chocolate or something to eat that I had missed.

"Something must have happened for her not to turn up. Maybe they had an emergency or something in her department?" Harry suggested, trying to appease my mood and stick up for his other best friend.

"Would have been nice if she'd let me know, rather than leaving me standing on a street corner looking like a damn bank robber!" I muttered.

"What?" Harry laughed.

"Never mind," I shook my head, finally finding something in my drawer and pulling it out hopefully. Then feeling utterly disappointed when I realised it was nothing more than a few days old liquorice wand.

As you could imagine, I was not pleasant working company for the rest of the day.

* * *

The floo burst into action later that night as I lay sprawled out along the length of the sofa. I idly looked up from the Quidditch Monthly magazine I had been flicking through and then returned to my perusal of it when Hermione appeared in the green flames and stepped from the fireplace.

"Hi." Her face lit up as she brushed herself down from the soot, set down a couple of bags and stepped towards me all at the same time. "Sorry I'm a bit late, I stopped off at...what's wrong?" she frowned and paused in her action of leaning over to kiss me when she realised I hadn't given her the slightest bit of attention.

"You do turn up eventually then?" I muttered, turning a page of the magazine and continuing to ignore her, despite the fact I was desperate for a hug or a kiss. After all, I hadn't seen her since Friday lunchtime. But, I was a stubborn git and still annoyed about lunch.

"And what, may I ask, is that supposed to mean?" She placed a hand on her hip, jutting it out sharply.

"Lunch?" I reminded her. "You were supposed to meet me?" I lowered the magazine, scowling at her.

"Yes...but, I..." she stammered over her words before I cut her off completely.

"I waited. For an entire bloody hour!" I yelled, slamming the magazine down on the coffee table. I sat up then, scrambling about on the couch to face her. "I wasted my entire lunch break waiting for you! And finished up with no time to get anything to eat whatsoever. Do you know what I have been surviving on all day? Do you?" I demanded of her stunned expression. "A bloody liquorice wand I managed to salvage shoved at the back of my drawer, and that was it!" I grumbled, rubbing my stomach.

"But, Ron," she started, looking confused. "I sent you a memo. I said I wasn't going to make it."

"I never got any damn memo!"

"Well, I sent one. It said I wasn't able to make lunch because there was an emergency meeting. I also said that I would come over tonight and cook us dinner instead." She still looked confused as she sat on the edge of the sofa.

"Well, I never got any bloody memo!" I repeated, sulkily.

Hermione sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I... don't understand. I was literally running to the meeting, but I asked that girl, Celéste, was it? I asked her to send you a note and explain that I couldn't make lunch and I'd see you tonight. She promised to make sure you got the message." she frowned.

"Well, I guess she didn't." I scoffed.

"But, she assured me she'd do it. I saw her get a memo pad out before I ran to the meeting."

"Doesn't change the fact that I never got anything and I still wasted my lunch hour."

"Oh Ron, I am sorry. Maybe she misunderstood or sent it to the wrong department," she mused to herself as though this was some new mystery she had to solve. "I really am sorry you wasted your break and that you finished up hungry all day." She gave me a smile as she inched closer beside me on the couch. "I had been looking forward to seeing you, then this nasty case came up with some idiot illegally breeding Krups and selling them to Muggles - the meeting couldn't wait." She tried to explain. "I was quite honoured they wanted me to attend the meeting really."

"Uh huh," I muttered, still annoyed, yet slowly softening towards her. I had learnt over the last few months it was much bloody harder to hold a grudge with her than it used to be. Just over a year ago we could argue and sulk about something for days. Now, she simply had to bat her eyelashes at me or give me _that_ look and I gave in. I was turning into a right sap!

"Are you home alone?" she wondered, cocking her head as she listened for other sounds in the flat.

"Ginny got back late last night, so Harry has taken her out." I shrugged.

"I see," she smiled and slipped her cloak off. "So, am I forgiven?" she asked, nudging me gently and grinning in my face. "Come on, I am sorry. I never wanted lunch to work out the way it did. I'd been counting down the minutes until I got to see you. And, I have something that might make up for it," she added mysteriously as she went to retrieve her bags.

"What?" I asked, trying to look in them as curiosity got the better of me.

"Well, I stopped off at the supermarket on my way home, and picked up ingredients to make us dinner. But, I also might have stopped at the bakery and picked up some of those chocolate éclairs that you love."

"You did?" I looked up, much more interested now. "How many?"

"Half a dozen." She answered, heading into the kitchen with the bags, a secret smile on her face.

I got up then to follow her, peering into the bag she had set down and finding the box from the bakery.

"They're for dessert!" She playfully slapped my hand away.

"Okay," I sighed, taking her in my arms. "You're forgiven." I kissed her forehead. She pouted at that as I laughed at her, so I pulled her back and softly kissed her lips. "Want any help?" I asked when she began pulling groceries from her bag.

"No," she looked over her shoulder at me. "I got this. You can...go set the table, maybe light some candles?" she suggested.

I nodded and went to do as she asked whilst the knives began chopping onions and she pulled out pans from the cupboard. I didn't have to tell her I'd already heated up a bowl of the left over stew Mum had sent me home with last night, did I? Besides, I had missed lunch – so I technically deserved two dinners, right?

The rest of the night passed much more pleasantly between the pair of us – making up for the lost weekend. Dinner had been delicious - although neither of us could cook to the standard of my Mum's yet, Hermione did make a good spaghetti bolognese that we ate together in candlelight, listening to the WWN. And then, because Harry was home late, we took advantage of having the place to ourselves and made sure to defy his pathetic house rules by making damn good use of the shower together before retiring to bed. Where we did actually remember to silence the room.

* * *

Later that week, I was strolling through the corridors of the Ministry, humming some mad Muggle song in my head that Hermione had been singing in the shower that morning – why did the Muggle songs always get stuck in my head more often than anything playing on our own networks? Anyway, I was quite happy to be wondering through corridors, delivering a completed file of case notes to the Law Enforcement office, because it meant I got out of filling in paperwork for a few minutes – longer if I dawdled.

Curious, I opened the file and flicked through the notes – wondering what was so important about it that it required someone to physically deliver it, rather than just sending it though the internal mail system. With my mind on the file in my hand and that damn song running through my head, I wasn't paying attention and suddenly I walked smack bang into someone. The file slipped from my hands and the stack of loose parchment fluttered to the ground around the person I had bumped into, who was sat on her backside on the floor.

"Oh! Sorry!" I rushed to help them up, holding my hand out to them, feeling embarrassed for being so clumsy. "My fault, not looking where I was..." I faded off when I realised the other person was giggling.

"Eet ees no problem." She chuckled again, but took my hand as I hauled her back onto her feet. "I am no looking too," she admitted.

"Oh, hey Céleste," I smiled, aware she was still holding my hand. "Sorry about that." I shrugged, wondering if could get my hand back.

She waved away my apologies with a casual flick of her other hand. "Do not worry. You looked...erm, 'ow to say, confussled?"

"Confused? Oh...no," I shook my head and then darted to the floor, yanking my hand out of hers finally, to gather together the sheets of parchment. "I was just trying to work out this Muggle song stuck in my head." I admitted and then felt stupid for telling her that.

"You know this Muggle song?" She looked interested.

"Oh, yeah." I stood up again. "Hermione, my girlfriend, she's Muggle-born, so I guess she heard it when she's home with her parents. She was singing it this morning and now I can't get it out of my head!" I blathered on.

"Ah oiu, 'Ermin-ninny. I 'ave meant to came and give my sorry about 'er." She looked a little shamefaced, clasping her hands behind her back.

"I, you...what?" I asked, not following that sentence at all.

She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. "'Ermin-ninny, she ask me to send note, on...on…I not know 'ow, er... Lundi?"

"Monday?" I guessed.

"Oui," she nodded. "Monday, zhat ees eet, but...I get to be busy and eet was lost. And...I am being sorry," she shrugged in simple explanation.

"Oh, right," I nodded, relieved that the matter was now solved. Hermione swore blind she had sent me a memo and all I knew was I hadn't received anything. At least now we knew what had happened to it. Even though it no longer mattered – that had all blown over now.

"I do 'ope eet did not make you, erm, 'ave problème?"

"Oh, no. No problems, we're all good," I smiled, my mind now drifting back to the activities in our bedroom this very morning. "Very good." I added, then blushed as I realised where my head was. "Erm, anyway," I shook my head to clear the thoughts. "I'd best go. Got to deliver this and get back to work," I pointed to the mess of parchments shoved back into the folder in my hand. Hastily I began trying to work out what order they'd been in.

Before I got very far, she pointed her wand at them and muttered something in French, the sheets all fluttered around, rearranging themselves in to order and slotting neatly back into the file. "I 'ope to be seeing you again, Ron." She smiled, giving my upper arm a slight rub before jauntily walking away, her long blonde ponytail swinging behind her.

"Yeah, thanks," I mumbled, grateful she'd helped with the file as I watched her go. There would have been hell to pay if I had handed this over in that state.

"Weasley!" Mrs Ashby, a much older, rather stern woman who reminded me far too much of the way Snape had treated me back in school, snapped my name whilst marching towards me from the MLE offices. "Where is that file? I've been waiting on it and I was told ten minutes ago you were bringing it over directly?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, right here ma'am," I handed her the file.

She opened it up, flicked through it and gave a swift nod before turning on her heal and storming back to her office without another word.

I sighed and shook my head. Women...I might be madly in love with one of the best – but I didn't think I was ever going to understand them! We all tried to avoid Mrs Ashby, or Arseby as I had heard a few of the newer recruits call her behind her back because she treated them so unkindly. She was a rather unpleasant encounter to deal with. And then there was Céleste who simply left me confused every time she spoke to me. I was beginning to wonder if I should convince Hermione to write that book I had once suggested to help us menfolk understand the mad things girls did. I'm quite sure it would be a best seller amongst men.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by relatively calmly – Hermione and I fell into the routine we had perfected since she finished school and started her job. There were no fights or even much nonsense bickering between us. In fact, I'd say we were doing pretty damn good! There had been no major instances at work which was a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it meant I wasn't out risking life or limb in a raid or chasing dark wizards through the rain that was still drenching much of the country. But, bad because that meant we were stuck in the office all day with nothing but endless paperwork and research to occupy us. At least I shared a twin cubicle with my partner, Harry and we had worked out a few...techniques to help with the boredom! And no they were not merely stupid nor childish games that Hermione or Ginny had accused us of wasting our time with. They were very important boredom reducing exercises, I'll have you know!

In fact, to show you how calm everything was, the most unusual thing to happen all week was bumping into Céleste a couple more times. And each time she managed to distract me from where I was heading with a chat about nothing. Not that I ever thought much of it – she was a nice girl and she seemed to be a bit lonely and perhaps homesick living here. I meant to mention her to Fleur the next time I saw her – they had apparently gone to the same school, so might know each other and maybe Céleste would like some company who spoke her language. She seemed to think of me as a friend now and I'd have felt mean ignoring her. Still, I did perhaps find it a little weird that I often bumped into her miles from her own department – we worked on different floors after all.

"You and Hermione got any plans this weekend?" Harry asked me, sniffing the T-shirt he'd just pulled off.

"Erm," I paused, bent over to untie my trainers. "Not that I know of," I shrugged, sitting up to toe them off. "Why?" I turned to look at him as he was wiping himself down with a towel.

We were in the Auror locker room – changing after an impromptu training session. They liked to spring these on us from time to time, just to put us through our paces and keep us on our toes so we didn't get too lax during quiet periods.

Harry sighed and stood to find his shirt and robes from his locker. "Ginny keeps asking me if we can go to the cinema again, she was fascinated last time I took her."

I could understand why – I'd reacted the same way the first time Hermione had taken me as well. Muggles had invented some amazing things considering they had to do it all without magic. Those explosions and flying cars and starships (or whatever they were called) had looked so real on those huge screens, that I had jumped once and hidden under my seat thinking it was going to hit me – much to my girlfriend's very obvious amusement! Plus, they had some decent snacks at these cinema things too – warm salty popcorn, loads of sweets, icy slushy drinks, crunchy nachos. I was drooling at the thought of it and decided I'd go, whatever film Harry was suggesting.

"I just, I feel better being out in the Muggle world if Hermione is there too. I know that sounds dumb – we're big scary Aurors after all," he laughed as he continued to get dressed. "But, I get embarrassed when I don't know things. I might have grown up as a Muggle, but it's not like I had much of a social life outside of the Dursley's or Primary school – Hermione knows more than me."

"Well, I'm in." I decided, already tasting the popcorn, nachos and slushy drinks. "I'm sure Hermione will agree to go. She muttered something about doing something else this weekend, rather than just spending hours in bed, well, you know," I shrugged, flushing slightly. Hermione was under some strange illusion that we wasted too many weekends by lying in bed naked together. I didn't think such a thing was possible! Time was never wasted by being naked with my girlfriend and she certainly didn't seem to complain at the time! "Though, do you reckon we can pick the film this time? Last time we went as a foursome, the girls picked that soppy film where the famous American bird with the rather large mouth, fell in love with that nerdy book shop bloke in London. They were both blubbering by the end of it!"

Harry laughed at the memory. "Yeah, we'll pick. Something with loads of action and explosions, or at least something funny! I'll try to grab a Muggle newspaper on my way home and see if they have the cinema listings in there." He decided, finishing the fastening on his robes. "You coming?" he asked, having finished changing.

I looked down at myself, barefoot and in only my sweaty t-shirt and boxers. "Nah, I'm going to hop into the shower. Supposed to go to Hermione's parents for tea tonight and for some reason, she doesn't like it when I turn up all sweaty and muddy," I shrugged.

Harry gave me a look of understanding as he slammed his locker shut. "Okay, see you in a bit." He picked up his bag and heading out.

I stripped off and rummaged in my locker for my towel, slinging it over my shoulder, before grabbing the bottle of shower wash that Hermione bought for me because she said it made me smell good, and made my way over to the stalls. Truth be told, as well as keeping Hermione happy by turning up smelling good, a shower was a good way to waste another ten minutes of work! I wasn't entirely daft you know.

On my way, I overheard some of the new recruits, fresh out of training, chatting as I stepped into the shower. They were obviously blowing off work by taking their time as well, sat exchanging banter on the benches behind the next row of lockers I assumed.

"Yeah, I swear. That is what I heard! She's been seen getting all cosy with Tristan from spirit division. Apparently been spending a lot of time together, if you know what I mean!" he laughed.

"I don't believe it!" One of the other lads spoke up in pure disbelief. "I mean, they always look so...well, coupley when I've seen them. You know – all wrapped up in one another."

"I know, sickening, isn't it?" Asked a third voice.

"What do you think he'll do when he finds out? I mean, he's a decent bloke and all, but I hear he's got one hell of a temper!" The second voice asked, sounding slightly concerned. I wondered vaguely who they were talking about and if I knew them – poor git sounded as though he had more than a few issues in his relationship and some bad news coming his way.

"Dunno." That first voice gruffed, not sounding half as concerned as his mate. "You reckon someone should tell him though? I mean, would you want to know if your girlfriend was cheating on you?" He asked the other two.

"Chance would be a fine thing, Jenson here ain't ever had one!" One of the lads was laughing loudly, obviously making fun of his mate.

"Shove off!" A sulky voice replied.

I was trying to block out their conversation now by trying to remember the words to that Muggle song Hermione really liked at the moment, but it wasn't working. Honestly, these lads were more gossipy than a group of house wives!

"He'd be bloody cut up about it though. Seems really happy with her and, you know...in love and all that."

"Just goes to show you can't believe everything you see. Besides, after what they went through, I suppose it's only natural that they wouldn't last. Tragedy can throw people together but I think it can tear them apart as well. They never stood a chance really."

"Yeah. I guess. Still, it's a shame. He didn't deserve to be cheated on. Poor Weasley."

I froze when I heard my name mentioned. They couldn't possibly mean me? I tried to remember if any of my brothers knew anyone else in our department – after all, one of these lads could just have easily been a friend of theirs. But, it all sounded far too coincidental for three of them to be gossiping about it in the place I happened to work. Not to mention the obvious fact that whoever this girl was, she was supposedly messing around with someone who just happened to work in a division of the same department as my girlfriend.

The voices faded away as the boys left the locker room, I heard the door closing behind them and then silence except for the running shower that I was still standing stock still beneath. I got out and grabbed my towel in a daze, considering what they had been discussing. Could it really be at all possible that Hermione was getting cosy with some other bloke named Tristan? It took me all of five seconds to dismiss that idea, shaking my head. Hermione would never do that. She loved me, I knew she did. I wasn't always sure why, but I knew she loved me. Things had been great between us just lately – the usual stupid little bickering matches besides, we'd had no huge arguments. And these days, even when they did occur, we always apologised and made up much quicker than we used to. I was actually learning and maturing in my understanding of girls, or at least _my_ girl...somewhat.

Nope, not true. Not one bit of it! I refused to believe it as I dragged my clothes out of my locker and slammed it shut with more force than I needed to. No truth in it whatsoever, I rammed my shirt over my head, then had to repair some of the buttons with my wand. Hermione was not like that - I trusted her. They must have been talking about someone else or got the wrong end of the stick, I decided shoving my feet into my shoes and slinging my dirty gear into my bag.

"Stupid gossipy wankers!" I muttered under my breath, slinging my bag over my shoulder and leaving the locker room with wet hair.

Harry was already engrossed in some paperwork when I got back to our cubicle, reading a huge scroll of parchment that he hitched up as he read. He jumped, the scroll flying into the air when I tossed my bag into the corner behind my chair.

"Damn it Ron!" he cursed, mopping up some ink that he'd knocked over with his elbow. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked then, looking at my face.

I sat at my desk, folding my arms across my chest and I knew I was scowling. Because, no matter how I tried to tell myself that it wasn't true, that Hermione wouldn't do that to me, those little demons were back in my head, trying to make a return appearance after I had managed to quieten them recently. And they so wanted to taunt me.

"Nothing," I muttered, reaching for a chocolate frog on my desk left over from yesterday's lunch. "Nothing whatsoever," I added, ripping the frogs head off with my teeth.

* * *

"Okay, what is with you tonight?" Hermione asked me the second I closed the door to my bedroom. It was quite late and since we returned from her parents to find Harry and Ginny sprawled together on the sofa in the lounge, we said our good nights and headed to bed.

"Nothing," I shrugged, sitting on the edge of the bed to kick my shoes off.

Hermione stared at me in silence, the look on her face telling me that she didn't believe that for a second. "Don't give me that, you've been quiet and...not yourself all night." She sat down in front of the mirror to brush out her hair. "You never even blinked an eyelid when Dad was asking you about Quidditch and he called it kibble ditch!"

"'M fine," I mumbled, kicking my socks in the vague area of the laundry hamper in my room and then began to unfasten my shirt.

"Ron...what is it?" She turned to face me, sounding concerned. "Please, look at me." She took my chin between her fingers, turning my face towards her. "You can tell me anything, you know." She spoke softly and then I felt bad for worrying her.

I inhaled deeply, abandoning getting undressed as I slumped beside her. "Did you know that you're... cheating on me?" I asked.

"I...I'm what?" she asked, rearing back in surprise as she blinked rapidly. "Whatever...where did? Why in Merlin's name would you think that?" Obviously not what she'd been expecting me to say then.

I shrugged again, feeling like an idiot for mentioning it. "Just, there's some talk going around."

"Well, you of all people should know better than to listen to stupid gossip Ron! And who, may I ask, am I meant to be having an affair with? And please don't tell me it's Harry again," she rolled her eyes. We were all tired of that particular story. The Prophet, and especially Witch Weekly, liked to reinvent that particular story as often as they could.

"Just someone you work with, in your department. Tristan someone?" I looked at her, hoping to see honesty in her eyes.

"Tristan?" She frowned, trying to think who that was. "Wait, they don't mean Tristan Fellowes?" Her eyes widened. "I mean, he has to be at least 20 years older than me. And besides that, I've always got the impression that he's, well...gay."

"Oh." I muttered, now feeling even more stupid for bringing it up and letting it bother me in the first place. Not that I had really believed she would cheat on me with anyone. But those demons residing in the back of my mind had perked up their heads, thinking they had some new dirt to taunt me with.

"Why in Merlin's name would anyone think that? I've barely even spoken to the bloke. He works in Spirit and I'm in the Being division - our paths rarely ever cross since our work is so different." She spoke rapidly as she pulled the hairbrush aggressively through her hair.

I nodded. "I know, thought it sounded dumb," I mumbled to myself, getting up to continue undressing. I tossed my shirt into the hamper and rummaged in my drawer for the old Cannons T-shirt I usually slept in.

"Ron..." she began very gently, turning to look at me. "You...you didn't really think that, well, that any of it was true, did you?" She didn't sound angry or upset with me. More disappointed and hurt - which was actually worse.

"No," I sighed. "I know you'd never do that and that you love me."

"Exactly. So, why did you let it upset you? And don't try telling me it didn't, because it's obvious that's why you were moody tonight."

I sighed deeply and pulled the t-shirt I had finally located over my head before taking a seat on the bed. "Because," I began, hanging my head to avoid her eyes, "for people to believe that kind of gossip and talk about it the way they did, it's obvious people don't think I'm good enough for you. That it was easy to believe you'd want someone, anyone, better than me. And, then my pathetic insecurities start taunting me again, reminding me how useless and hopeless I am and...I wonder." I sighed again and actually dared to look up at her face. "I wonder what the hell you're doing with me." I confessed everything.

"Ron," she got down on her knees in front of me, taking my hands in her small delicate ones, "I am not in love with a useless or hopeless man. I wouldn't be with someone like that, which is why I'm with you. Why I love you. You're not either of those things and you know it, you need to stop listening to those voices in your head, you need to let them go and ignore them. I know that's easier said than done and I know you're doing so much better than you used to and that sometimes it's hard. But, when they do try to taunt you...tell them to shove off. Remind them of all the incredible achievements you've made."

"Hermione, I..." I rubbed the back of my neck, awkwardly. "I just, I mean, I didn't..."

"Oh no you don't!" she interrupted me and tugged on my hand when she saw I was about to protest. "You HAVE achieved many things. Not just during the war or in that final battle, but you've been there for your entire family, especially your Mum, when they were falling apart after...after Fred. You took care of George and helped him get the shop running again. You were there for me in Australia and when I was struggling with school. You were there for Harry and always have been for any friend who's ever needed you. You achieved high marks in all of your Auror tests, through your own determination and hard work. You are not at a useless or hopeless man and you don't realise how damn proud of you I am."

I looked up at her, trying to give her a little smile, but feeling even more foolish for letting my pathetic doubts get in the way. "I just wish people would leave us alone, you know? I really hate everyone gossiping about us and suggesting you could do better."

"I hate that too, but we have to ignore them. Because we know what's real and those that care about us know. What anyone else thinks, doesn't really matter, does it? They will never know how I fell in love with you because of your fierce loyalty and your good heart. Or because you make me laugh and not take everything so seriously all the time. I happen to think you're generous and brave and funny and wonderful and handsome and a million other tiny reasons that just make me love you."

"I love you too," I mumbled, feeling a little overwhelmed.

"I know you do," she smiled. "They're blind and ridiculous if they don't see how good for each other we are - we challenge one another and we balance each other out." She smiled at me and raised herself on her knees to kiss my lips before laying her forehead against mine. "Please Ron, don't ever doubt my feelings for you."

"I'm sorry. I just," I shrugged, not sure how to finish that sentence. I knew I had been stupid to let what those gits had said get to me, but it had still hurt that people were practically making bets on when we'd break up.

"I know," she sighed softly, not needing me to elaborate, she knew what I meant - Hermione often understood me better than I did myself. "But never forget the fact that I love you and I would never, ever cheat on you. You're...you're it for me." She whispered, moving her head so as we were cheek to cheek and nuzzled against me.

"I love you too," I pulled her into my arms. "So much," I added and we simply held each other for awhile, feeling safe and content with one another. I was glad I'd told her what was bothering me and how it made me feel, and relieved that we'd managed to avoid a row about it. Maybe we were actually maturing.

"Come on," she got up, rubbing her knees, "it's killing me kneeling down there," she chuckled, which made me grin at her. "Why don't you finish getting ready for bed and I'll go make us some hot chocolate?" She suggested, slipping out of the room again as I nodded.

I was changed and in bed by the time she returned, sat up against the headboard as I flicked through my Quidditch monthly magazine. I smiled wryly to myself as I remembered her Dad trying to talk to me about the sport tonight. He has tried, I suppose.

"Here you go." She handed me one of the mugs and set her own down on the bedside table whilst she went to grab her nightgown in the drawer full of her things. Strange how a lot of her things were already making their way into this flat and especially into my room – filling up my drawers and wardrobe space. Not that I minded in the least, I actually quite liked seeing our things together.

"I just bumped into Harry in the kitchen, he mentioned something about the four of us going to the cinema this weekend?" She asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, yeah," I perked up after sipping some of my drink. Hermione always made mine extra chocolatey – just the way I liked it. "He asked me this afternoon if we fancied going. So, do you fancy it? I said I would, if it was all right with you."

She nodded, just before pulling the nightgown on over her head. "I do, it would make a nice change." Came her muffled reply from beneath the clothing. "And don't worry," she added when her head popped out and she shook her hair back, "Ginny and I won't make you watch some soppy weepy this time." She chuckled crawling into bed with me.

I grinned, satisfied with that – just as Harry and I had planned it. "Hey, maybe we could bring home some of those Pitza pie things after?"

"You mean pizza?" She picked up her mug.

"That's what I said," I nodded. "That one with the sausage was good last time." I was almost drooling at the thought of it.

"Pepperoni." She half laughed at me. Not that she was making fun, just in that cute way that told me she thought my mistakes were endearing. "Sure, we can get a take-a-way after the movie. Will be nice to just have a fun night with friends and behave like normal teenagers for once." She sighed contently then, leaning back in bed to drink her hot chocolate.

"Hermione, I don't think there's ever been anything normal about this bunch of teenagers!" I laughed. "I mean, magical differences aside, I don't even think most witches or wizards have battled trolls or giant spiders or broken into a bank only to escape on a dragon! And I'm pretty sure most people, magical or not, have been possessed by evil gits or had as many near misses as we have."

"No," she laughed under her breath. "I suppose they haven't. Which means tomorrow will be a nice change. I'm just looking forward to going on a double date with my boyfriend and best friends." She leant over and kissed me, tasting of chocolate.

"Mmm," I sighed, taking her mug off her and setting it down beside mine on the bedside table before taking her in my arms to deepen our kisses. Our drinks were long forgotten when I pointed my wand towards the door of our room. "Muffliato," I muttered between hot kisses and slid down in the bed, with Hermione in my arms – exactly where she was meant to be.

* * *

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More soon...


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for all the reviews and follows for this story - always very much appreciative of those who take the time. Here's chapter 3 for your reading pleasure, hope you like it.

Also, don't forget to vote for my story 'What's in a Name' in the Ron and Hermione Tumblr awards if you think it deserves to win. Link to vote is in my profile. Thank you :)

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

"THAT was bloody hilarious!" I gasped, still laughing as we left the darkened cinema, stepping out onto a Muggle high street. In one hand I held the last of my slushy drink I was still slurping, my other hand slipped into Hermione's as the four of us made our way down the street.

"I know!" Harry agreed with me. "I haven't laughed so much, in...well ages!" He chuckled and threw his arm around Ginny's shoulders, tugging her closer to kiss the side of her head. I might be used to seeing the two of them together these days, but...it still weirded me out a bit. It was like some instinctive older brother thing kicked in and I had to protect her. I know, it was dumb - but I thought it showed I cared.

"And one time, at band camp." Ginny quoted one of the lines from the film, making us giggle again. All of us, apart from Hermione, that is.

"I thought it was a bit...crude!" She screwed her nose up.

"Oh, come on love. It was funny." I bumped her shoulder with mine.

She stared at me, as though wondering how it was possibly funny. "It was all about sex and stupid boys lame attempts to get into a girls knickers! It wasn't funny – just crude and actually rather childish!"

"I thought it was funny," Ginny shrugged. "Mostly because those boys were such idiots! None of them had a clue!" She added, looking back where we were walking behind them as the pavement was only wide enough for us to walk along in pairs.

"Do all boys of that age really just think about sex and women in such misogynistic ways?" Hermione asked.

"Huh?" I looked at her confused – she'd swallowed that damn dictionary again.

"Hermione, they didn't hate women, quite the opposite in fact!" Ginny laughed.

"They didn't exactly respect them, either!" Hermione sniffed. Oh, now I got what she was upset about. I suppose it had been a bit degrading towards women in places.

"No, they didn't." I agreed with her. "But..."

"It was just a funny, dumb film. It wasn't supposed to be taken seriously. It's not a real life documentary." Harry attempted to calm her, but I caught the look he and Ginny gave one another. "Really, we should be the ones offended," he pointed to himself, "since it was mostly taking the piss out of teenage boys and how they're rather pathetic when controlled by their, erm..."

"Hormones!" Ginny finished for him as Harry flashed her a wide grin before planting another quick kiss on her face.

Hermione sighed beside me. "Well, I still would have rather seen 'Never been kissed', that one looked both funny and sweet. Not all about sex, idiotic boys and raging hormones!"

"Nah, that looked too soppy!" I laughed, then quickly stopped when she gave me a look of disgust. "But, maybe we could see it next weekend?" I suggested hastily.

Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes at me.

"You have to admit some bits were funny?" Ginny asked Hermione when we paused for traffic at a crossing. I watched Harry press a button and the lights slowly change. "Those boys were utterly clueless! I mean, really? Why would anyone even consider doing that to an apple pie? Stupid!"

"It was revolting!" Hermione pulled a face.

"Yeah, got to admit, that's put me off apple pie for a bit. Hope Mum isn't making one for lunch tomorrow!" I was suddenly filled with horror at the thought. Ginny and Harry thought this was hilarious. A little giggle even escaped from Hermione.

We had reached the pizza place by then and after ordering two large pepperoni pizzas, the girls disappeared to the toilets as we waited.

"You know Ron," Harry started after they left. "I love Hermione and everything, but your girlfriend is trying to ruin what I thought was just a funny film."

"She just sees thing's differently, that's all." I found myself sticking up for her.

"Tell me something we don't know," he groaned. "She gets herself so riled up about these kinds of things. You watch, she'll be on some feminist crusade once she's sorted out spew."

I suppose I should have found the idea amusing, but I didn't. Because, secretly I was proud that Hermione was passionate about causes, that she wanted to make a difference in this world and make lives for others better. Okay, she got overly passionate and annoying about it sometimes, but yeah...I knew I had a girlfriend with intellect as well as beauty and after seeing how dumb some of those girls were on that big screen, I was rather glad of that fact.

Hermione and Ginny returned from the loos shortly thereafter, taking a seat beside us on the bench as we waited for our take-a-way.

"Next time," I told her quietly. "I promise you can choose the film we watch. I suppose it was a bit stupid."

She smiled at me and I felt rather relieved and proud of the fact I had said the right thing to make her happy. "Thank you." she leant over and kissed my cheek.

"And, just so you know, there's at least one teenage boy that respects his woman. I think you're amazing and I'm very proud of you!"

Hermione looked at me rather amazed, as though surprised that I had understood what she'd been trying to say. And, as I received a big kiss for my effort and the look of joy in her eyes, I felt rather good that I took the time to understand her better. And yes, perhaps a little smug too. I liked to surprise her and earn her respect.

After paying for the pizza's and calling at a late night shop for a bottle of that cola stuff, we found a dark, deserted corner and the four of us disapparated back to the flat – after I'd warned Harry not to splinch any of the pizzas he was carrying!

"Anyone want that last piece?" I asked, eyeing up the lonely slice of pizza lying in the box almost an hour later.

"I'm stuffed!" Ginny grumbled, rubbing her completely flat stomach.

"I've had enough," Harry added, reaching for his glass – the cola was about all gone as well.

"Looks like it's mine then!" I grinned, sitting up and reaching out to drag the box over to me. I knew Hermione wouldn't want it.

"I don't know how you can!" She exclaimed from beside me.

"I'm hungry," I shrugged.

Her eyes widened at that. "Ron, you grabbed a 'so called' quick ham sandwich before we went out, claiming it was to keep you going. You had a large popcorn at the cinema..."

"Which I shared with you!" I pointed out, my hand now hovering over the slice.

"I barely had two handfuls!" she exclaimed. "You also polished off an ice cream before the movie even started. Then went on to munch your way through a portion of nachos with cheese and the biggest slush drink I have ever seen! And now you've eaten over half of a large pizza by yourself!"

"I'm a growing boy," I shrugged, returning my attention to the pizza and pulling off a slice of pepperoni and dropping it into my mouth. "Besides, with all the training I'm getting these days, I quickly burn off any food."

"Harry is training too, as is Ginny with the Harpies. Yet I don't see either of them eating enough food to feed a small family!" She shook her head.

I pushed the box away, losing my appetite. "Are you telling me you think I'm fat?"

"No!" She denied it rather quickly. "Of course not. But you have to admit that your diet is anything but healthy and….there's long term issues to consider."

"Long term issues?" I asked, frowning at her.

She sighed. "You might be fit and slim now, but, one day, well...these things build up you know. Loads of problems can occur later in life due to a poor diet now and I'd rather like to keep you around, fit and healthy." She tried to explain.

"Hermione..." Ginny cut in finally. I noticed the pair of them had been conveniently silent whilst my girlfriend had been lecturing me on my eating habits. "We're not like Muggles, we don't suffer from the same problems and diseases they do."

"Oh, I know that," she flapped her hand. "But, I don't think eating that much sugar or fat is doing anyone's body any good. I'm just trying to look out for you." She tried to smile sweetly at me, but she'd already ruined it. I didn't fancy the pizza now.

"Yeah, all right." I huffed. "Why don't I go throw these out and I'll put the kettle on? Unless too much tea is bad for me too?"

"Well, actually yes. Too much caffeine isn't good for anyone and..."

"Hermione..." Harry told her, warningly. "We get the point, okay?"

"Oh, right," she nodded. "Tea would be nice Ron, thank you." She smiled up at me.

I heaved a sigh as I got up to take the boxes through to the kitchen, vanishing them on my way so as not to bung the bin up. When I returned a few minutes later, levitating four mugs of tea onto the table, I sat back down beside Hermione on the couch who nudged my shoulder with hers and gave me a brilliant smile. "I'm sorry. Forget I said anything, okay?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

I glanced at the other two, squashed up together in the same armchair and saw a guilty look on their faces. Why did I get the feeling I had been the subject of a hushed conversation whilst I'd been out of the room? "Yeah, sure," I grunted, handing her a mug of tea and sipped my own. She took it from me and gave my cheek a brief kiss.

Thankfully, Harry remembered a funny story from work that we hadn't told anyone about yet – one of the newer recruits had managed to injure himself during training and after the healers had given him a painkilling potion, he'd had an adverse reaction to it, making him act as though he was drunk. He'd finished up telling our head, Robards, that he had a face like a bum and confessing his undying love to Mrs Ashby – neither of whom were very amused about it. We were all laughing so much after Harry finished telling us all, even though I had seen the bloke in action first hand, that I soon forgot the silly lecture from Hermione and enjoyed the evening with my best friends talking and laughing until late into the night.

Finally, all yawning, we decided to head to bed, knowing we'd be expected at The Burrow for Sunday lunch tomorrow. One of the requirements of Harry and I moving out (since Mum thought of him as a member of the family too) was that we came back every Sunday for lunch and popped home at other times too – we'd been issued with strict instructions not to go off gallivanting and forget all about them! Poor Mum – I guess she found it lonely at home now we'd all just about flew the nest. Ginny still technically lived at home, but she was often away training these days or else sneaking over to spend the night with my flat mate! George had lived back at home for awhile after...everything, but he'd found a new place he was sharing with Lee now – he reckoned he couldn't live in the same flat he'd once shared with his twin, which is why he let Harry and I have it. Which left Mum spending most of the days by herself now.

"Night then!" I muttered to Harry, trying to ignore the fact that my little sister was holding his hand and following my best mate into his bedroom, whispering in his ear. Would I ever get used to seeing that? They'd probably be old and grey with grandchildren and I'd still have this instinct to slap him for kissing my little sister!

"Just going to the bathroom," Hermione told me as I stepped into my own room.

I nodded and pushed the door too, stripping down to my boxers on my way to the dresser for a clean pair of pyjamas. Catching my image in the mirror above it, I paused and turned to examine my own body. I gave the muscles of my arms and abs a flex and decided they weren't half bad before turning to the side and checking out my gut – sucking it in and letting it out again, wondering if I'd always been able to do that. I never heard Hermione come back into the room as I began inspecting my waist by pinching the skin there to see if I was getting fat.

"What are you doing?" she giggled.

I jumped and made an embarrassingly girlish noise. "Don't do that!" I muttered. "And, I wasn't doing anything. How long have you been standing there anyway?" I asked, feeling my face burn with embarrassment.

She smiled at me, joining my image in the mirror. "Enough to see some of this." She did an impression of me flexing my arms and chest and then giggled again.

I grunted and pushed passed her to get to my drawer.

"Oh, Ron," she whined my name. "I'm sorry. I wasn't teasing you. I just, I was actually enjoying the view." She confessed.

"I'm not too fat for you then?" I muttered grumpily.

She gave a little sigh as she stepped behind me again and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. But you know I love you and happen to think you're the most handsome man in the world. I like you just the way you are." She kissed my shoulder as I caught her eyes in the mirror.

"Really?" I asked, fishing for compliments.

She gave me a slight eye roll, but smiled all the same, knowing what I was up to. "Yes, really. Only you can turn me on," she whispered against my ear. "It's always been you." She flashed her eyebrows at me in the mirror.

I nodded, grinning as I turned to face her. "So, about Lockhart? I seem to remember a rather big crush someone had on him!" I was fighting back laughter.

"I was 13!" She slapped my chest playfully, a grimace on her lips as she stepped back. "You can't hold a silly childish crush against me."

I was laughing now, as was she."Okay, okay, I'll forgive you the Lockhart thing, but then there was Krum..."

"Are we really going to bring up our exes, Won Won?" She widened her eyes, daring me to continue.

I felt my face pale at the reminder of that particular mistake. "No. Course not. Krum who anyway?" I asked, shrugging and turning to pull my pyjama shirt on.

She had a smug smile on her face as she went to find her own nightwear, before we finally crawled into bed together, suddenly realising how tired we actually were as she snuggled into my arms.

"So, I'm not fat?" I asked again into the quiet darkness of the room.

Hermione turned her head, placing her chin on my chest. I could just barely see her from the faint glow coming in at the window from lights on Diagon Alley. "I'm sorry I fed into any of your self doubts Ron. I should have been more considerate about your feelings. But no, you are not at all fat – you're body is perfect. I just...I want you to stay that way, you know? I kind of want you around for the long term." She added, laying her head back down on my chest with a soft, contented sigh.

"Yeah?" I asked, feeing pleasantly stunned by that piece of information.

"Yes," she added firmly and wrapped her arm around my waist as she settled down for the night.

We were both asleep not long after, and I'm pretty sure a stupid smug little grin remained on my face all night.

* * *

"There you are Ron!" Mum popped her head around the living room door to see who had arrived and smiled before bustling over to greet me with a big, motherly hug. "Oh…and H,hermione too." She almost stammered over her name, seemingly surprised to find her standing just behind me. "I erm...I wasn't expecting you both today." She fussed with the tea towel she was holding, trying to tuck it into her apron.

I held onto Hermione's hand, having just arrived via the floo at my parents for Sunday dinner. "It's hardly a surprise Mum." I shared a look with Hermione. "I mean, she has been joining us for lunch every Sunday for months now!"

"Yes, yes. I know. I just thought she might have...other plans this weekend. That's all." She mumbled, avoiding eye contact with either of us and hurried back to the kitchen, muttering about the chicken in the oven, leaving me rather puzzled in the living room.

"I think she's lost it!" I laughed once, before leading Hermione into the kitchen. Mum was basting the chicken now – well the chicken was basting itself through a clever little spell – she'd always had a real knack for household spells. Maybe I should ask Mum for some cooking tips some day, I thought as I inhaled all the delicious cooking smells.

"Sorry if I surprised you, Molly," Hermione spoke politely. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, no. I can manage." She waved us out of the room.

"Fine," I muttered, pulling Hermione back into the lounge, giving Mum a wary glance. "Something is up with her!" I whispered loudly as we took a seat on the old, somewhat threadbare and yet comfortable, sofa. "I mean, Mum practically adores you and..."

"Maybe she's not feeling well?" Hermione suggested. "I really should insist on helping," she sighed and was about to get up again.

Before she could move, George came thundering down the stairs, a box in his arms. Obviously he'd been to his old room to collect more of the junk that still littered the place – mostly old prototypes and inventions of his and Fred's no doubt.

"Little brother!" He grinned, setting the box down, looking far too happy to see me. "And the lovely Hermione is here too! Didn't expect you to turn up today." He laughed, perching on the arm of the sofa beside us and giving an overly exaggerated wink at my girlfriend.

I growled at him, feeling possessive all of a sudden. "Mum just said the same thing when we arrived. What the bloody hell is going on?" I asked, totally confused by their behaviour. Everyone loved Hermione – honestly she was practically part of the family already, had been for years.

"Mum knows she's here?" George gasped.

"Yes. Now what the bloody hell is..."

George snickered to himself and then, pausing to set down his box, he perched on the arm of the sofa, beside Hermione. "This is going to be fun," he murmured to himself and I noted that old flash of devilment in his eyes – a look that only spelled danger. "So, you're sick of my little brother already then, I here," he nudged her with his elbow. "Not that I can blame you of course, I mean look at him! I should warn you, Mum is a bit sore about it all. You know, since he's her baby boy and all that," he laughed, reaching over and ruffling my hair at the same time.

"Ger off!" I slapped his hands away. "And will you bloody tell me what in Merlin's arse you're talking about?"

George grinned that inane grin of his – the one that said he was really enjoying this. "I'm talking about how Hermione here, has moved on, traded you in for a more mature model no doubt. Did you come over to beak the bad news to everyone?" He asked, flinging his arm around her.

I groaned. Bloody brilliant – the stupid office gossip had somehow reached home already. "Where did you hear such utter rubbish?"

"George," Hermione began, pushing his arm off her shoulder. "That is not true at all. I am perfectly happy with Ron and have no intentions of trading him for anyone, thank you very much!" She gave him a fierce stare as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Exactly!" I agreed with her, trying to shove George off the end of the sofa.

George shoved me back. "Now, that's not what the story in paper today claims. And you know how The Prophet always prints the truth!" he smirked.

I groaned again and clapped a hand to my forehead. "Oh great! That's just bloody great!" I hissed. How the hell had the press got hold of the gossip already? Though, I wouldn't be too surprised to find they'd started it – apparently any story abut the three of us increased sales, so they weren't opposed to making things up.

"Yep," George nodded, obviously enjoying himself. "Mum read all about your betrayal this morning. Got rather upset with you on Ron's behalf as well!" He poked Hermione with his finger. "Personally, I was going to congratulate you on finally coming to your senses and giving my brother the elbow!" He laughed to himself. "I should have known it was too good to be true," he shook his head rather sadly.

"Oh, piss off!" I hissed at him.

"Ronald! Language!" Mum snapped, appearing back in the room just at the exact wrong moment. How was it she always caught me swearing at my siblings, yet she never seemed to catch the reason why I was swearing at them? "Now, where did your sister get to? She said she'd help me in the kitchen." She glanced around the room, as though we were guilty of hiding her somewhere. I knew that she and Harry had come over much earlier, I'd heard them go. Hermione and I had had a little trouble in leaving our bed!

"Oh," George stood up, "I think I saw her going upstairs with Harry earlier." He picked up the box and hefted it onto his hip again.

"Upstairs? With Harry?" Her eyes looked to the ceiling as though she could see what was going on right through it.

"Yep," he continued, nonchalantly. "I definitely heard giggling coming from her room when I passed by a few minutes ago." He added, sounding far too gleeful for snitching on his sister.

"Oh, that girl!" Mum hissed, as though Ginny was still a 12 year old child. "I've told her plenty of times, no boys in her room with the door closed!" She hitched up her skirt, preparing to go storming upstairs to her room. Honestly, was Mum completely ignorant to the fact that my sister spent a lot of her nights at our flat, in Harry's bedroom? What did she think she was happening when she came over? That we all sat playing a nice, innocent game of snap?

"And my work is done." George muttered to himself proudly with a little nod as he edged his way out of the room with his box of Merlin only knew what.

"George!" Mum called, "if you're going outside, tell your father that lunch will be ready in 10 minutes." She instructed him and then yelled up the stairs, "Ginny!" she yelled.

"Honestly, Mrs Weasley, I don't mind helping with anything." Hermione offered. "I've always appreciated your Sunday lunches." She tried to flatter her. Personally I thought she was being far too polite when Mum was being so obviously rude.

"No, no, Ginny said she'd help. Besides, the pair of them need to be downstairs where I can keep an eye on them." She sighed and called her again, completely dismissing Hermione all together.

So, George was right. Mum had obviously read the papers this morning and stupidly believed the gossip that had been printed. You'd think she'd have learnt her lesson, but no, always too quick to believe someone had wronged her kids!

"So, Mum," I began. "Anything interesting in the paper today?" I asked.

She faltered in her steps. "What?" she asked, sounding a little flustered "How would I know? It's not like I've had time to look today. What a silly thing to ask." She shook her head and heaved a sigh before calling for Ginny again.

"Really? So, you won't have read all the rubbish in the gossip pages then? Apparently there are some big juicy lies in there today!" I added, watching her face closely.

"I, erm..." Mum stammered and then turned to look at us, coming back down the couple of steps she had taken. She seemed a little shamed face and the tell tale sign of the family trait flushed her skin.

"Mrs Weasley," Hermione began calmly as she stood to face her. "I hope you know that I would never do anything to hurt Ron. I wouldn't cheat on anyone, that's not the kind of person I am and I had hoped you knew me better than that. But, as it appears you'd rather believe the gossip, I want to assure you that Ron and I are fine. I love your son and only your son and have absolutely no interest in anyone else despite what they print in the ridiculous gossip columns."

"I...I..." Mum seemed lost for words. I stared in utter amazement, wondering what spell Hermione had used on her - it had to have been a spell because I had never seen my mother ever lost for words. "Oh!" Mum suddenly gave a strangled cry and rushed towards Hermione, almost crushing her in a hug. "Oh my dear girl, of course you wouldn't. I was such a fool to believe such nonsense. I know you love my Ronald, you only have to see the two of you together to know that." Mum pulled back and patted Hermione's cheek. "I don't know what those….those vile reporters are thinking printing such lies. I shall write a letter to the editor!" she added with a decisive nod.

"No, Mum. Please don't!" I groaned in utter dismay. The last thing I needed was my Mum writing to tell them to leave her little boy alone!

"I won't have people writing such nasty things about my son and his dear girlfriend, Ronald. Not one person!" she added, placing her arm around Hermione's shoulder. "Come along dear and we'll get dinner sorted. Ron, go tell your sister if she is not downstairs in 30 seconds, I will put a hex on her door so as it will never close again!" She threw over her shoulder.

I looked on in amused disbelief as I watched them leave the room together, shaking my head, amazed at how fast a woman's mood could switch. Though, hopefully this time Mum would learn her lesson and not believe everything she read!

Shortly after, we sat down to dinner where both my Dad and Percy had now joined us. He was trying his best to be more involved with the family these days and I heard George mention how he'd found Percy humouring Dad out in his shed, admiring his plug and screwdriver collections!

"Here we are," Mum proudly placed a perfectly roasted chicken in the middle of the table as Hermione and I helped bring over the vegetables before we all took our seats. "Help yourselves, there's plenty to go around." Mum encouraged everyone as the bowls of food levitated themselves around the table for people to take what they wanted. "And, for pudding I baked a lovely apple pie."

Three heads all turned to look at me, Harry, Ginny and Hermione all trying not to laugh as I felt my face turn red at the thought of eating apple pie after that film last night.

"I'm keeping it nice and warm," she added, tipping a spoonful of peas onto her plate. "Ron, dear? Whatever is the matter? You look awfully flushed." she fussed.

"Nothing. I'm just, a bit hot," I muttered as my charming girlfriend, my so-called best mate and my prat of a sister did a terribly poor job at hiding their chuckles.

"Well, eat up. I know how much you enjoy a warm apple pie!" She smiled.

That was it, all three of them burst out laughing, knowing exactly what my mind had conjured thanks to that stupid film, I wanted to slide off my chair and hide under the table in mortification. Mum, Dad and Percy all looked on in bemusement, whilst George just looked eager to be let in on whatever the joke was.

"I'll tell you later," I heard Ginny whisper to him. "Really not something for the dinner table," she added as Harry almost choked on a mouthful of mashed potato.

Good, I thought, serves the prat right!

* * *

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	4. Chapter 4

_Here you go - the chapter you have probably all been waiting for - a bit of M rated action :p lol! From now on, this story will be rated M for scenes of an adult nature and adult themed conversations - you have been warned haha!_

 _Thank you as always for the lovely reviews and follows and favorites - very much appreciated :)_

 _I shall now leave you in peace to read the new chapter._

 **Chapter 4**

Returning to my desk, I slammed the files down on it with more force than I meant to - sending them flying. The motion knocked over my cup of, now cold, tea and finished up with photos and sheets of parchment fluttering to the floor like confetti.

"Fuck!" I hissed, jabbing my wand in the general direction to take care of the mess before I sat down with a loud huff. I looked up and found Harry just looking at me, one raised eyebrow as his quill hovered over his work. "What?" I snapped at him.

His expression changed to one of surprise. "Having a rough day?" He asked me, leaning back in his chair, twirling his quill between his fingers.

"I swear to Merlin, the next git that asks me how I'm feeling after Hermione cheated on me or how sorry they are to hear we broke up...will find themselves hexed into next week!" I grumbled, snatching the file open, intending to get some work done.

"That bad huh?" Harry asked.

"Six people! Six! From here to Robards office all commented on it...that's like 40 yards away for fucks sake! What is wrong with people that they believe everything they bloody read?"

Harry shrugged. "It's just mindless gossip Ron. People like to gossip and especially about famous people."

"Yeah, well, remember all those times I was jealous of your fame and you getting all the glory back in school? I take it all back. I bloody well hate it! People need to mind their own damn business."

"You'll get no argument from me mate," Harry shrugged. "With Ginny joining the Harpies, the questions we both get asked are ridiculous. Ginny said they had a team interview the other day for the start of the season and all anyone wanted to ask about was our relationship! Pathetic I tell you."

I grinned, imagining my sister getting pissed off with them. "So, how many did she hex?" I wondered.

Harry laughed. "I think she'd have got all of them had her manager and captain not been there. But, she doesn't want to ruin anything since she's only being on the team a couple of months."

I nodded and sighed, realising we all had this kind of crap to deal with these days. Honestly, you become instrumental in saving the entire Wizarding world and they can't bloody leave you alone.

Harry looked at his watch then, still the same old, battered, second hand one my parents had given him for his 17th birthday. "How about we break early for lunch?" he suggested. "We can go into Muggle London and escape all this for a bit?"

"That sounds like the best idea you've had all day!" I sighed, gratefully.

"Come on then." He stood and stretched. "Shall we swing by and grab Hermione?"

I shook my head, woefully. "Nah, she told me this morning she's going to be stuck in meetings all day."

"Just us then." He shrugged and grabbed his cloak from the hook behind his chair

We were heading out, had just made it passed the boss's office to turn down the corridor towards the lifts, when we were stopped.

"Ah, Potter, there you are. Might I have a minute?" Robards asked him.

"I, erm...we were just heading out to lunch actually," he stammered, looking hopelessly at me, silently begging for help.

"I won't keep you long." He was leaning against the door jamb of his office with a face that said refusing was not an option.

"Yeah, sure." Harry shrugged and, giving a little sigh, trudged slowly towards our boss. "Why don't you go down? I'll meet you in the atrium in a bit?" Harry suggested over his shoulder.

I nodded, not wanting to hang around here in case I got dragged into his office as well. Robards seemed to be under the impression that Harry and I knew every single fugitive Death Eater out there and had us going through files and files of photos and case notes to track them down. As well as questioning us regularly about their activities. He didn't seem to get that we'd spent most of our time that year on the run avoiding them as much as possible, not having bloody tea parties with them!

"See you in a bit then. If you're not down in 10 minutes though, I'll head on out and order for you. Usual?"

"Yeah, great." He nodded, looking rather glum as he followed Robards into his office, the door closing loudly behind him.

The lift was thankfully empty, even the attendant must be on a break. I hoped it would remain that way so I could escape anyone else asking me ridiculous, nosey questions about my private life. I had the lift to myself, until we reached level four and someone else stepped inside, hidden by a tall pile of files they were carrying.

"Someone can please be of 'elp? Press zhe ah...zhe number?" The confused and accented voice behind the files asked.

I pressed it again and then peered around, recognising the voice. "Hello." I smiled.

"Ah...Ron!" Céleste giggled. "I do not see you."

"No wonder," I nodded my head towards the jumbled pile clasped in her arms.

She sighed. "I 'ave to take zese to zee Wizengamot."

"Oh...erm, but I'm going to the atrium. You'll need to go back down to level two for the Wizengamot offices?" I explained, feeling a little bad for her that she'd have to hold onto that pile longer.

"Oh," she swore in what I assumed was French and then gave a shrug before setting the pile on the floor. I wondered vaguely why she didn't just levitate the pile in front of her, rather than try to carry them all – that's what I would have done. "At least I see you, non?" she smile at me.

"Erm, yeah." I replied, feeling a bit uncomfortable as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"Oh but Ron, I sorry. You must feel sad. I very sorry to 'ere of you and 'ermyninny." She shook her head sadly. "I do not theenk she do zat to you." She gave me a soft smile and a rub to my upper arm.

"I erm...what?" I asked, glancing back from the rising numbers beside the door, mentally urging the lift to reach the atrium quickly so I could escape.

"I read eet, 'ow she went with zat man, urgh!" She uttered a very French sounding noise of derision.

"Oh..." I realised what she was on about – the same thing everybody else was bloody well talking about today. "Yeah, actually none of that's true. Hermione has never cheated or anything, we're absolutely fine, happy and still a couple."

"Oh, really? You trust 'er?" She seemed surprised, almost taken aback for a moment.

"Well, of course I do. I know Hermione better than myself sometimes and I know she wouldn't do that to me or anyone. I know she loves me and we're just fine."

"Hmm..." She sighed to herself.

"Thanks for the concern though." I added, flashing her a brief smile before checking the progress of the lift again. Was it just me or was it moving really slowly today?

She shrugged again. "Eet ees not a problem. I not like to see you 'urt or...or with a bad woman. Someone who treat you bad."

I laughed at that. "Hermione treats me great, thanks!"

She muttered something in French under her breath. "But...eef zere is ever a time...you can talk to me Ron." She gave me a sympathetic smile and patted my shoulder, her hand lingering just a little too long to be comfortable.

"Yeah. Right." I took a step towards the doors, noting we were about to reach my floor. "Well, thanks for that. I'll, er...keep it in mind." I told her, grateful to see the golden grills come into view. "I'm getting out, so I'll see you around." I waved, as the gates opened.

"Au revoir Ron." She was still smiling at me, reminding me worryingly of the way Lavender used to gaze at me back in our sixth year.

"Yeah, bye. You want level two now." I reminding her. Glad to be escaping the lift, I hurried towards the remembrance statue to wait for Harry.

* * *

"I'm telling you, she's just a bit...weird!" I insisted to Harry, stuffing my face with more chips. Hermione would be horrified by our lunch – greasy sausage, egg and chips. Harry and I ate at an entirely different café to the one Hermione and I always went to. I think she referred to these kind of places as a dirty spoon, or something – some strange Muggle term no doubt! The one she insisted we went to only served organic salad, home made soup, sandwich wraps and anything else considered healthy.

"I thought you said this Céleste girl just seemed a bit lost, which was why you were always friendly towards her and stopped to talk to her?"

"I did," I nodded through a mouthful of food. "But now she seems overly friendly, if you get what I mean? I don't think she likes Hermione much at all and she's always...touching me and stuff." I whispered, looking around the café in case anyone was listening. Why, I don't know – not like anyone here was going to run back to my girlfriend and report that some other woman was touching me up!

"Yeah, but," Harry shrugged and paused to swallow a mouthful of his coke. "You said she's French? Mainland Europeans have always been a bit more, well...touchy feely than us standoffish Brits." He reasoned.

"Maybe so, but it's still...weird! I mean, I never thought of it before, but don't you think it's strange how she always seems to pop up wherever I am? How likely is it to run into someone at least once a day when you work in different departments two floors away? And you should have seen her face when I told her the rumours weren't true about me and Hermione, like she was disappointed. And then there was that offer to be there if I ever wanted to talk. She's just...weird!" I finished, throwing my hands in the air.

Harry was smirking at me from across the table.

"What?" I snapped at him irritably, stabbing a sausage with my fork. "It's not funny!"

He laughed out loud then. "Well, it sounds to me like someone is flirting with you. I think she has a crush!"

"Shh!" I hissed. "For Merlin's sake Harry, don't go saying stuff like that out loud – if anyone heard you I'd be the latest gossip fodder for having an affair next! Not to mention what Hermione would do if she thought this woman was trying to get between us!" I shuddered at the thought of that argument, imagining hexes flying as Hermione defended my honour and then I found the whole scenario ridiculous!

Harry continued to laugh, much to my annoyance. I felt like kicking him under the table. "I'm sure she's harmless. It's just a crush." he added.

"Yeah, well, harmless or not, it's getting too weird for me and I'm going to try and avoid her from now on." I sighed, wondering just how difficult that was going to be.

"Never thought I'd see the day that my mate, Ron Weasley, would be annoyed some girl fancied him." He laughed, shaking his head as he dipped a piece of sausage into his fried egg.

"Piss off," I muttered through a mouthful of food. "Anyway, what did Robards want?" I wondered, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.

Harry groaned and set his fork down. "The man can be such an idiot. He was questioning me about the Malfoys again!"

"Malfoy?" I almost choking on a chip, hissing the name with disgust. There was a name I hadn't thought of for awhile. Although they had escaped prison after the war ended, they had lost much credibility in our world, and some claimed they'd lost some finances as well. Since the trials, they had been keeping a rather low profile in the last year or so.

"Yeah, I know. He wanted to go over their part in the war again – asking about the time we were captured and taken there. I honestly don't know what he was getting at, it's like he's obsessed. But I think he's grasping at straws in trying to track down Rodolphus Lestrange."

"Hmm," I mused. I had to admit, that particular git was one person on our most wanted list that I wouldn't mind finally catching up with. How he had remained evasive all this time, none of us knew. But, he needed to pay for what he'd done and for the actions of his wife – the sadistic pair!

We spent the rest of our lunch break whispering about the Malfoys and Lestrange, trying to figure out what Robards was up to, if anything. Until, we finished up having to hurry back to work before we got into trouble for being late. Which wouldn't have happened had I not insisted we stop for pudding as well.

* * *

"Ron! I can't believe you! How could you say that?" Hermione blushed as she slowly shook her head, though the big smile never left her face.

"You asked." I shrugged. "I was simply telling you the truth."

"I know, but, I just. Well, I didn't expect you to say...that!" She giggled and buried her face in my neck.

I smiled and stroked her hair as her body shook with giggles beside me. I loved Hermione like this – relaxed, completely uninhibited and carefree. Just happy to be together. We lay in my bed, a rather tousled sheet barely covering our naked bodies on a rare, long, lazy Saturday afternoon. The bedroom door was ajar, soft strains from the wireless coming through and delicious scents from our dinner slowly cooking in the kitchen.

We had the flat to ourselves for the weekend for the first time in forever. Ginny was away in Scotland, the Isle of Skye to be exact, preparing for her first match of the season tomorrow afternoon. The team had gone up a couple of days early to get some practice in and some time to recharge before the game, and Harry had sneakily tagged along with her. Tomorrow, myself, Hermione and my entire family would be attending the game to support Ginny in her first professional match.

But for now, my girlfriend and I were enjoying some rare time truly alone. The floo was locked and the flat charmed with anti-apparation wards so we'd have no unpleasant surprises. It was just the two of us and we were making the most of it and being sure to defy all of Harry's ridiculous house rules in the process – even now I knew our clothing was shed all over the flat and though the flat was charmed from anyone below us or outside hearing things they shouldn't – we hadn't bothered silencing our room and we weren't exactly making an effort to be quiet.

"Okay, I have another," I began. We had been laying naked together, post coital, confessing to secrets from our early feelings for one another.

"Are you just trying to embarrass me?" she hummed as she snuggled in closer beside me, her naked body warm against my own.

My arm was under her shoulders, holding her close and a smirk graced my lips as I considered how much my next question would embarrass her. "No, but I do want to know, have you ever had any fantasies about me?" I grinned.

"What? I...Why? I, no...how can you..." She became flustered over her words, not being able to form a complete sentence as her head shot up and glared down at me. "I am not answering that!" she insisted, poking me in the ribs with the tip of her finger.

"Why not? You answered the last one. How is this any worse than you telling me when you first realised I turned you on?"

"Because, it just is!" she huffed. "A carnal reaction to someone you like or find attractive is an involuntary response – it just happens unconsciously. But, a fantasy...those are very conscious thoughts, you mould them into what you want to happen and...you take it as far as you dare. It's extremely personal and private." She poked her tongue out, figuring she'd silenced me with that and contently lay back beside me.

"Well, I don't mind telling you mine." I admitted.

"Huh," she scoffed under her breath. "You wouldn't because you're sex mad!" She tickled my waist, causing me to squirm even closer and our limbs became tangled.

"Never heard you complaining before!" I replied, somewhat smug as I folded an arm beneath my head.

Hermione rolled her eyes at me and lay back against her pillow.

"Aaw, go on Hermione, tell me? Just one little fantasy. I thought we said no secrets between us? We agreed to tell each other everything and confess all." I pointed out smugly.

"Some things are too private Ron!" She insisted, rolling over and turning her back on me slightly.

I smiled as I followed her, spooning my body against hers. "So...by the end of our fifth year," I began, hoping if I just started telling her my secrets, it would inspire her to share hers with me, "especially after that Christmas. I don't think there was a time I didn't fantasise about you being in the prefects bathroom with me. The two of us in that huge bath, naked and warm and all...wet." I whispered against her ear. I felt her breath catch and her body jolt against me, which made me smirk. "Sometimes we'd just kiss. Sometimes we'd...explore one another. And sometimes we just shagged until we were breathless." I confessed all. "Didn't you ever wonder why I took so long in there?" I wondered.

She shrugged against me, before speaking quietly. "I just assumed you were swimming lengths, like most normal people did in there!" She spoke rather haughtily, forgetting that that turned me on.

I laughed at that. Why waste time swimming when there was so much more fun to be had? "Go on then, tell me one of yours." I brushed her hair aside to kiss the back of neck, just behind her earlobe, and rubbed my nose against her skin.

"I...I can't," she whispered, grasping hold of my hand that had been creeping towards her breasts.

"Of course you can. I mean, if you tell me, maybe we could make it a reality?" I suggested.

"Ha!" She laughed out loud. "What are you going to do? Write to Professor McGonagall and ask permission for us to come up for a visit so we can have sex all over the school? I'm sure she'd be most accommodating with that."

"Wait! ALL over the school?" I asked, my mind going into overdrive.

"No. Not all over, that's just you!" she sniffed, trying to sound disgusted, but I knew the idea excited her.

"Oh come on, love. I told you mine. Whatever it is, I won't laugh or think any less of you or anything if you're embarrassed." I waited for her to tell me something, but she remained quiet, breathing gently beside me. "Fine," I sighed softly, "I'll tell you another one of mine. The Quidditch pitch changing room. After a hot, sweaty match, everyone else has already gone back to the castle and you come in to help me change and wipe me down and..."

"The library," I barely heard her whisper.

"What?" I asked, even though I had heard, I just wanted to be sure.

She turned in my arms again, until we were facing one another, almost nose to nose. "I fantasised about you in the library," she confessed, avoiding eye contact. "I...it started off innocent. We'd be studying together late and look up and realise everyone had gone. You'd move your books closer and then something would spark between us, a look or a giggle or something and we'd start snogging. By our sixth year...my fantasies had gone beyond just the kissing and we'd have sex, right there, in the library."

I laughed, I couldn't help it. "Why am I not surprised?" I chuckled. Typical for my book worm of a girlfriend to fantasise about us getting it on in a library of all paces.

"You promised not to laugh," she pouted.

"Right, I'm sorry. Mind you, I don't think Madame Pince would have been very happy – us desecrating her books like that! She'd have had us expelled." I laughed and Hermione giggled next to me, laying her head back down on my chest.

"Well, in my fantasy, she was never there, obviously. It was very late and...it was just us and an uncontrollable desire for one another. I wasn't always studying when I disappeared to the library you know," she giggled. "It sometimes took me hours to get my homework done when my mind would wander to the...dirtier side."

I snorted at that, knowing how much that would have frustrated her. "So, what did we do first?" I asked, suddenly wanting to picture the entire thing, becoming hot again at the thought – things were definitely rising further down, if you know what I mean.

"Well, we'd be studying together late, just the two of us. When we'd both look up to realise the library was in complete darkness apart from our table lamps – as though no one had realised we were in there and they'd left us. We'd look at one another and giggle about it and then...something would spark between us, books would be hastily shoved to the side as we grabbed one another and kiss each other breathless. For awhile my fantasy ended there, but..."

"But..." I repeated, eager for her to continue, noting my breathing becoming shallow.

"But, as my feelings grew and I became more…sexually aware of myself," she tucked her hair behind her ear, a faint blush colouring her cheeks. "Well, then we'd go much further. The kissing was hotter and would lead to us tearing one another's clothes off carelessly. We'd touch and grope a bit. Books would thud on the floor as we knocked them off the desk and we didn't care. You'd lift me up and stand between my thighs and, you'd kiss me again and tell me you loved me. Then we'd just...fall together and go at it with great passion, right there, on the desk. Or sometimes the floor and even once or twice rammed against a book shelf. It was all very passionate." She confessed, looking up at me through her eyelashes.

"Sounds great," I breathed, running my hand up and down the soft skin at her hip. "Did you ever, you know, think of that scene and of me, when you erm…" I nodded my head towards her lower regions.

"Masturbated?" she whispered, shyly, her blush spreading.

"Yeah, that." I coughed, trying not to imagine her in the act – I feared I would come undone before she even touched me again.

She smiled, bit her bottom lip and nodded, her eyes meeting mine.

"Damn," I cursed, under my breath. "That is so fuckin' hot..." I muttered and that was it, I lost all willpower as my lips crashed against hers and her arms curled around my neck. With very little preamble, as we both clawed at one another, trying to get closer, I entered her again and we made love once more with enthusiastic abandon.

* * *

Things had, thankfully, calmed down with the latest gossip surrounding my relationship with Hermione. But, even still, we got more than our share of curious glances and outright gawking going on when we took our seats in the stand the following afternoon at the Holyhead Harpies vs Pride of Portree game. We ignored the stares and the whispering as much as we could and eventually forgot about it all as we became engrossed in the game. Ginny was a talented player – it was clear why she had been chosen to join the team out of so many who had tried out. I was so proud of my little sister out there. One would think I might be jealous that she was playing Quidditch professionally, that she was essentially getting paid to do something I loved. But, I think we all know how I perform in the game under pressure...and I couldn't stand the publicity to be honest. Nope, I was quite content with being an Auror, at least for now. I liked the thrill of capturing another dark wizard, knowing I was doing my bit to make our world a bit safer.

Ultimately, Ginny's team won and once they'd dealt with the press and she'd had time to celebrate with her team mates, Mum had arranged a bit of a party back at the house with all of Ginny's favourite foods. Seemingly she knew this would be the outcome. It was strange to see Mum at a Quidditch match – she had never much cared for the game, even missing World Cup matches in favour of staying home for some peace. But, she couldn't not be there to support her baby, her little girl and I think Ginny was touched she'd made the effort, which perhaps had her feeling just a little bit guilty for the sneaking off to sleep with Harry. Personally, I thought Mum knew all about it anyway and just chose to turn a blind eye – I'm quite sure she didn't want to imagine any of her kids being grown up enough to have a sex life!

The following week in the paper, amidst the reports on the match, there was a small paragraph on Hermione and I along with a photo of me throwing my arms around her and kissing her cheek when Ginny's team had scored. The report read something along the lines of it looking like there had been a reconciliation between us or putting paid to the rumours of a break up and how happy we looked together. And that, for now at least, quietened all the gossip.

* * *

"Ron, what are we doing here?" Hermione grumbled again as I led her through the darkened corridors of the fourth floor at the Ministry.

"I told you," I turned to look at her. "I left something I need on my desk."

"And it can't possibly wait until Monday morning?" She sighed, hurrying her step to keep up with me.

"No," I grinned to myself.

"But why did I have to come with you?" She sounded rather put out. "I've had a long day and I was looking forward to getting these shoes off and relaxing." She continued to grumble. She had been touched when I'd called to pick her up a few minutes ago after she'd had to work late. Now, not so much.

"Because...it's dark and I'm scared," I made up.

"Yeah, right." I knew she was rolling her eyes behind me. "The big scary Auror is afraid of the dark." She scoffed. "Though, it is very quiet up here now," she added as an after thought, rather eerily.

"I know," I replied. The place did seem rather dead during the night shift, especially when I was used used to the hustle and bustle of the working day. "There's probably only a handful of Aurors on night shift, who are more than likely hanging out in the break room, hoping no urgent cases come in so they can have a quiet night." I turned a corner, looking for the door I had been thinking of ever since she told me she'd be working late. Everything looked so different in the dark.

Harry and I hadn't been called upon to do many night shifts yet, unless someone was off sick and they had no other choice. Teams to work the night usually consisted of the most qualified and experienced Aurors - which we weren't yet. So I wasn't used to being here after hours when most of the floor was shut down.

"Ah ha!" I announced, relieved when I found what I had been looking for and pushed open the heavy wooden doors.

"Ron, I can't see anything," she hissed, tripping over her own feet and crashing into my back. "Where are we? I'm sure this isn't where your desk is."

"Lumos," I muttered and my wand tip lit up just as Hermione did the same thing with hers. She held it out in front of her, gazing around the room with a look of both surprise and wonder on her face.

"What are we...Ron, why on earth are we in the Ministry library?" She turned to me as I moved my wand higher and I saw the puzzled look she gave me. "I don't understand," she murmured as she took a few steps towards the shelves, running her hands reverently over the books and gasped audibly when she noted the sign on the shelf declaring what they held. "Oh Merlin! They must have every magical law book in existence in here. And oh look, some of the rarer texts are stored here too." She sounded rather awed.

"You mean you haven't been in here yet?" I asked, rather surprised.

She turned to look at me and shook her head. "No, I've never had time," She replied as she wandered down another shelf.

I smiled wryly, I had been hoping she wouldn't be against this idea, but her getting excited about the books hadn't exactly been part of my plan. I should have known though. I slowly shook my head as she fawned over the books, touching the spines as though they were precious artefacts.

"I still don't understand why you brought me here tonight though," she turned to look at me again, her head tilted to the side.

I knew I had a smirk on my face as I moved closer and took her in my arms. "Well, see, I got sent here today to research something for a colleague. And, whilst wandering around the books, my mind kind of drifted back to what we were discussing last weekend, you know, your...fantasy?" I whispered against her ear, before pressing my lips just below her lobe. "And, since it's quite deserted this time of night and very quiet and...we'll be all alone. I thought, maybe we could..."

"Ron!" she shrieked as the realisation dawned on her and she covered her mouth, startled by her own sudden noise. "You can't be…we can't do that here!" she hissed at me. "What in Merlin's name are you thinking? Absolutely not, let's just go home!" She turned and tried to find her way out, stomping towards where she thought the door was.

"Wait," I caught her around the waist. "We could, maybe, just try it?" I asked, hopefully. "I mean, we can put silencing charms on the room and...and cast warning and blocking spells so no one else can come in? Though I can assure you we'd be quite alone tonight," I murmured, trying to be seductive as I kissed her softly. It wasn't something I had perfected yet – my seductive skills still needed work because I felt a bit of a tit doing it.

"But...Ron," she huffed and, although it was rather dark, I knew she was blushing at the idea.

"Listen, how about we just try it for a bit and, if you're really not into it or feel uncomfortable, we'll go home and pretend it never happened. I promise." I assured her. I didn't want to push her into this, but I really did want to live this one out.

She groaned and gave me that look that told me she was seriously considering this and almost at the point of giving in. "You promise? And no one will ever hear about this, right? Ever! Not one person and that most definitely includes Harry or Ginny or… anyone."

"I promise," I kissed her again. "This will remain between you and me. A completely personal and private moment."

"Okay," she breathed. "I can't believe I'm saying yes to this, but, we'll try, okay?" She gave me a brief, tentative smile. I knew she was feeling shy and somewhat awkward about the idea, but I also knew from that spark in her eye that she was intrigued and maybe excited about making her fantasy a reality. I suppose a library was a library after all.

"Come on then," I took her hand and led her further into the library, over to where the research desks were. I cast the necessary charms and then turned to look at her, eagerly. "So...where should we start?" I asked.

"We could do with some more light," she muttered, glancing around.

"I'm on it," I pulled the deluminator from my pocket and created the little floating balls of twinkling lights I had discovered it could do.

"Perfect," she nodded in approval. "Cosy and romantic, yet we can see one another properly."

"So," I held my arms out to my sides, wondering what to do next, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. "Did you want to act the entire thing out or..."

"Just kiss me Ron!" She decided. "I'll only laugh if we pretend we're studying or something." She grinned up at me and I knew she was getting into the idea now.

I did as she asked, allowing her to lead this now I had got her here, and kissed her soundly. My hands drifted to her backside and then made her grunt when I scooped her up suddenly and deposited her onto the desk. "Is this right?" I asked.

She nodded and jerked the front of my shirt to bring me back to her lips again.

I grinned at her as we parted. "So, now you know why I was so eager to come pick you up tonight and why I wouldn't let you take your work robes off," I shrugged, impishly. I had actually considered hunting down her old school robes or borrowing a set from somewhere, but decided that was perhaps a bit too much and quite possibly creepy. Her work robes were close to the school ones though, so it wasn't too hard to pretend.

"Very thorough," she complemented me and grasped my face between her hands, kissing me again. Her thighs opened and I stood between them, feeling her heat with our bodies so close together.

The kisses that had started off soft and loving, soon became demanding and passionate as Hermione tore at my clothing, eager to get me undressed. Figuring that this was keeping in line with her whole fantasy, I let her go for it, tugging at her clothing too.

I ran my hand up her skirt, stroking her thigh towards her knickers. She moaned approvingly and leaned back on her arms, pushing her chest out and her body towards me. A book that had been out on display behind her fell with a thud to the floor, which seemed to excite her.

Nimble fingers made light work of the buttons on my shirt, she pushed it off my shoulders and covered my neck, my collar bone and chest with soft, wet kisses. Her hands trailed down the sides of my body, until she began running them over my backside, the heat of her hands causing a reaction in my boxers. Fingers began to fumble with the buckle of my belt and the fastening of my jeans. "I need you," she hissed, pulling urgently at the buckle.

"Patience, love," I murmured, running my hands over her body. They disappeared under her shirt, until she pulled back and lifted it over her head, leaving her sat before me in her practical white bra, tossing her shirt unseen to the floor.

"No, we have to be quick," she whispered, her eyes half closed in response to my hands on her warm skin, easing bra straps from her shoulders. "Before… before Madam… Pince. Before she... catches us," she breathed as I cupped her now bare breasts in my hand, running my thumb over a nipple.

"We're safe," I told her. "No one will catch us," I murmured, lifting her face to meet mine again and claiming her lips in a heated kiss, tongues moving together.

The heat between us increased and she was at my jeans again, successfully undoing them and shoving the harsh fabric down my thighs, quickly followed by my boxers. At the same time, my hand was beneath her skirt again, pushing the fabric towards her hips and pulling at her knickers. She helped to remove them, lifting her backside before I tore them from her and I helped her in getting my jeans and boxers off. Kicking them off at the ankle, along with my shoes.

"Now! Please Ron. I need you." She met my eyes, grasping my open shirt and pulling me closer until my chest brushed against hers. "Make love to me," she whispered throatily and kissed my lips.

I grunted against her and pulled her towards the edge of the desk, making her yelp in surprise as her body fell back, knocking another book to the floor unnoticed. And then, I was inside her slick warmth.

Our bodies worked together, pushing and pulling, working to a smooth rhythm as I clung to her hips and she laced her fingers behind my neck. She planted small, breathy kisses on my face, holding my gaze steadily, both lost in the moment. Until momentum increased and she pulled away, leaning back on her arms and thrusting her hips back at me.

"More. Harder," she urged.

I gave in to every demand, giving her what she wanted, what my own body needed.

"Yes..." she whispered, her eyelids fluttering closed.

And then, finally the coil of tension inside both our bodies snapped and we let go, reaching our release simultaneously. We rode out the intense feelings and after shocks from our bodies for a few moments, before she sat up and we slumped against one another, breathless. Hermione buried her face against my chest as I rested my head atop of hers and lazily kissed her hair, holding onto one another.

Until there came a muted thump somewhere in the distance. "What was that?" Her head shot up.

"Probably someone walking by outside in the corridor or something. They can't hear us, remember?" I soothed her, running a hand down her hair. I was so thrilled I had managed to convince her to go through with this with me and so madly in love with the fact she had done it willingly that I didn't want this to become a bad experience.

She sighed, gave me a sheepish smile as she looked up at me, before I leant in to her and kissed her. She always looked so naturally beautiful, all flushed after sex – something primal about her with her hair all mussed, her pink cheeks and sweaty skin.

There was another thump then, much louder, quickly followed by another.

"There _is_ someone in here!" Hermione hissed, hopping down off the desk and trying to cover herself.

"No one could have got in here without us knowing, love. We're fine." I insisted, disappointed to watch her grabbing clothes and pulling them on.

"Then someone was already in here when we came in!" She looked even more alarmed to consider we'd possibly had an audience the entire time. "For Merlin's sake Ron, put some clothes on!" She threw my shirt at me.

"I think we'd have noticed. Relax love, we're alone."

This time the thump was much louder and a heavy book landed at me feet. Then another whizzed past our heads. "What the bloody hell?" I looked around, startled as more books seemed to be flying off the shelf by themselves, furiously.

"Ron!" Hermione looked alarmed and pulled more clothes on as she threw others at me.

Books began to fly at us then, darting willy nilly off the shelves all over the room and just missing us by inches. "Maybe...maybe we offended the books?" I wondered, grasping for explanations.

"As horrifying as it is, I don't think books take offence at your pale, naked arse Ronald!" She rolled her eyes, fastening her robes hastily. "Let's get out of here!" She gasped and grabbed hold of my hand.

I yanked my jeans up, gathering up my underwear and shoes as I tried to button up my shirt all at the same time, whilst Hermione vanished any evidence of us being here before we made a run for the door, covering our heads as books zoomed after us. Just as we reached the door, there was a loud creaking sound and one of the heavy shelves began to topple towards us. With a shriek, we managed to dart out of the door before it fell on us and would have knocked us out.

We stood just outside the door, our arms full of clothing, both bare foot and looking rather wild. I looked at Hermione, thinking she was going to be upset now, that she'd blame me for how this ended and put an end to any kind of these shenanigans again. But, to my surprise she was laughing. She was actually laughing.

I smirked too. I suppose it had been sort of funny – the books suddenly attacking us seemingly of their own accord.

"Well, that was interesting." She muttered, wiping her tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Certainly was that," I agreed. "No one can say our sex life is boring!" I joked. Hermione groaned at me. "It was pretty hot before all that happened though." I winked.

"Yes," she sighed. "It was. Thank you." She whispered and kissed me softly, her lips lingering on mine just longer than usual. "Come on, let's go home." She seemed eager to get away as she grasped my hand and tugged me behind her. "Maybe we could glamour your room into the Quidditch tent or something?" She winked.

I followed eagerly at that, almost falling over as I tried to ram my feet into my shoes. Hermione hurried us to the nearest apparition point and took us directly to my room at the flat.

* * *

More soon...don't forget to review :)


	5. Chapter 5

Before I let you read chapter 5, I just wanted to say thank you again to whomever nominated me in the Ron and Hermione 2016 awards, and thanks to the lovely, kind people who voted for me. Am pleased to say that my story, 'What's in a Name' received runner up in the romance section. I am so thrilled and totally surprised with the result. So, thank you - it honestly means so much to me that you like my writing.

And now, I won't go on...here's chapter 5 for you. Hope you have a lovely Easter weekend, whether you celebrate or not :)

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

Something landed on my desk with a heavy thump that startled me from my work with a jolt. I looked up, rubbing tired eyes and realised it was a steaming mug of tea that Harry had just plonked down for me. I looked towards Harry's desk where he was placing his own mug down and taking his seat again. "Thanks mate," I muttered, picking up the mug gratefully. "I didn't even hear you get up."

"I noticed. You were totally absorbed in your work. Is it that interesting?" He wrinkled his nose at the idea.

I groaned and leant back in my chair with my drink. "You know damn well it's not. But once I actually get going with it, I just want to finish it, you know?" I asked him and took a sip of the hot liquid. The amount of paperwork this job created was the bane of my existence and something we both griped about regularly. But, since I didn't want to have to spend my free time catching up, I sometimes actually got stuck into it, just to get it out of the way.

Harry sighed and rummaged in his pocket, "Brought you these as well!" He tossed me a small, individual serving, packet of biscuits.

"Great, I'm starving!" I ripped the package open.

"Yeah, cause it's been..." he paused to check his watch, "all of two hours since you ate lunch!" He laughed, also leaning back in his seat and taking a break.

I gave him the finger, before dipping a biscuit into my tea – a habit I had from early childhood when I'd ask Mum for a cup of tea, just so I could have dippy biscuits! "Hey, Harry..." I suddenly thought of something I wanted to ask him. "Don't suppose you've ever heard of books...erm, moving, you know, by themselves? Or, sort of, attacking people or anything like that have you?" I wondered, still puzzled over what had happened the other night.

"Now Ron, just because Hermione is trying to inject a little culture into your life and get you to read something other than comics or Quidditch Monthly, it does not mean she is trying to harm you. It's just a book." He quipped, looking rather smug with himself for his joke.

"Haha," I replied drolly and rolled my eyes. "What I actually meant was, a book trying to do actual physical harm to someone or..."

"Girlfriend been whacking you with books again has she?" He laughed. "Not that I can say I blame her."

"Oi! Shove off! I'll have you know my girlfriend has never beat me with books!"

"Oh yeah?" he asked, fixing his eyes on me, knowing that was a lie.

"Well, not since we were at school she hasn't." I gave him the finger. "Anyway, what I was trying to ask was, have you ever heard of books somehow... throwing themselves off a shelf or across a room towards people, apparently of their own accord?" I asked, then felt like a prat for asking about books coming to life.

"Erm, no." He shook his head and gave me a curious look as though I had grown a second nose or something. "I think, maybe you're working too hard," he chuckled to himself.

Harry could be such a prat when he wanted to be. Why I remained best mates with him, I hadn't a clue sometimes.

"Did I hear one of you say something about books throwing themselves off a shelf?" Joyce, the senior office clerk, paused by our desks on her way past.

"Oh, yeah," I looked up at her sheepishly, knowing it sounded stupid. "I was just, wondering if it was possible...you know." I shrugged, trying to brush it off as nothing important.

"Well of course," she replied simply, not thinking me mental. "That kind of thing actually sounds like something the Ministry librarian would do."

"I didn't even know there was one." Harry joined in the conversation as I nodded in agreement with his comment. I'd never encountered a librarian on the few visits I'd taken there.

"Oh, that's because there isn't!" She flapped her hand and giggled to herself as she took a perch on the edge of my desk.

"Eh?" I asked, confused as Harry and I shared a look. Joyce was a friendly old girl, but known for enjoying gossip and being a little, well...airy about things. Almost like a much older, more gossipy, Luna Lovegood.

She laughed again. "I mean to say, there isn't one any more. No, old Shirley died about, oh...12 years or so ago now I believe. But some think she never left." She added ominously. "See, old Shirley loved that place, considered it _her_ library – she was very passionate about books and also very protective of them, you know didn't like anyone messing about in there or misusing her books. I think it was because she lived alone, had no one else you see, so she filled her life with books." She sighed, looking a little sad about it. "Anyway," she shook her head, "since she died, they haven't been able to employ anyone else – new people soon leave, saying they can't work with that crabby old ghost and she chases everyone off."

"Hmm," Harry piped up again. "That sounds a bit like the Defence Against The Dark Arts teaching position at Hogwarts. The post was cursed so no one would stay longer than a year." He added.

"Oh yeah," she mused. "I remember being told about that." She nodded. "My niece said she had a whole string of teachers," she sighed.

"Us too, though the curse is supposed to be broken now. So, what is up with this librarian ghost?" I asked, trying to get her back on topic.

"Oh right, well she's very distrustful of people, absolutely hates anyone messing about in her library or mistreating her books – has such high standards. She has been known to punish people – scaring them off by throwing books around and things. So people say anyway, never seen her myself." She shrugged.

I glanced down into the remains of my tea, biting my bottom lip as I considered what she'd told me. Is that what had happened? Had Hermione and I offended this Shirley ghost woman with our, erm...messing about and she'd tried to scare us off? I suppose that made more sense than books coming to life. I mean, I was hardly a sceptic when it came to ghosts – I'd lived with the ghoul in my parents attic for years and went to school with a whole bunch of ghosts, so a librarian ghost was feasible. And then I paled a little, thinking of this little old spirit lady watching us at it. I sharply shook my head to clear the image and looked up quickly to see if anyone had noticed I'd gone quiet or anything.

They hadn't noticed at all, Harry was debating with Joyce about the job, saying that Shirley couldn't have jinxed it like the job at Hogwarts, because otherwise the jinx would have been broken when the one who'd cast the spell had died. We knew all too well how that particular magic worked.

"Well, anyway, that is what they say," she finished as though that made it the gospel truth. "Ooh!" she suddenly squealed and clapped her hands like someone much younger than herself would do. Harry and I both jumped up, half expecting to see her falling off my desk or something. But she was just grinning and looked excited about something. "Speaking of books and libraries, have you two heard the latest gossip?"

"No." We both replied together, groaning as we pulled our work back towards us. Since the gossip around here usually had something to do with one of us, we were never interested.

"Really? But it's so...scandalous!" she whispered. "See, Daniel told me that Phoebe told him that apparently someone was...having sex," she whispered the words loudly, "in the library the other night!" She gave another high pitched giggle and slapped her thigh. "Can you believe that? Some randy little buggers going at it amongst the books!" She chuckled again, obviously finding the story hilarious.

"Eurgh!" Harry screwed his nose up in disgust and glanced across at me. I had buried my head in my desk drawer, rummaging around for nothing as I blushed furiously, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"I know, it's..."

"Joyce?" Robards was looking for her, sounding rather frustrated.

"Oops, better go!" She hopped off my desk and disappeared in the opposite direction.

"Why on earth did she think we wanted to know about that?" Harry asked me after she was out of ear shot.

I merely shrugged and opened another drawer, still avoiding him and feeling as though my ears were burning to a crisp. How the hell had anyone found out about it? We'd put up protection spells, I was sure we'd been careful. No one was ever supposed to know.

"Ron? You all right? You're looking a bit flushed you kn...oh Merlin's arse!" He gasped in sudden understanding. "You, you didn't?" He asked, sounding almost afraid of my answer.

I was ignoring him, feeling the heat of my guilt spreading and hoping he'd just let it go.

"Ron?" Harry asked again, sounding a little worried now.

"Huh, what?" I acted as though I had only just heard him. "Sorry mate, what did you say?" I chanced a glance at him. My expression must have given me away in a heartbeat as I saw his face pale and the look of disgust returned.

"Eurgh! Really? Wait! I don't want to know anything!" He held his hand up. "This is TMI as it is. Merlin Ron! Hermione!" He gasped at the idea of her being involved in something like that. He got up then, collecting his empty mug and gave a shudder as he wandered away, muttering words like gross and revolting under his breath.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, really hoping this gossip didn't spread further within the Ministry. The last thing I needed was Hermione finding out someone knew or at least suspected that someone had been up to no good in the bloody library. And she'd kill me if she knew Harry had guessed it had involved us.

* * *

"Oh, by the way," I remembered something I wanted to ask Hermione as I bent to take our dinner out of the oven. "Have you ever heard of the Ministry librarian ghost?" Knowing that if anyone would know about it, it would be Hermione.

She looked up from draining the boiled potatoes and vegetables with her wand. "No, should I have?" she asked.

I shrugged and placed the steak and kidney pie on the kitchen table – it was only a ready made one we'd bought from the supermarket, and although it smelt great, I didn't think it would be anywhere near as good as my Mum's cooking – the pair of us were still learning how to cook. "Joyce was on about it today at work, she overheard me talking to Harry about erm...well, if anything weird had ever happened to him in the library at work."

"Why were you asking him about the library? You didn't tell him, did you?" She turned on me, a bowl of steaming peas and carrots in her hand.

"Of course not." I gave what I hoped what a convincing look. Technically I wasn't lying because he'd actually figured it out himself. "You know I would never tell him anything...private. Anyway, Joyce..."

"She's the office gossip, right?" She checked she was thinking of the correct person.

"Yeah," I nodded as we both sat down at the table. It was just the two of us tonight – Harry had taken Ginny over to babysit Teddy, so we had the place to ourselves again. "She told us that this woman, the librarian, died about 10 years ago or something, but never left! Apparently she really loved books and was rather protective of the library. She said she was an elderly woman who lived alone and filled her life with books instead of people or whatever."

"Well, I can understand that. Books can be a huge comfort and fill the loneliness in your life. I believe there's a quote from Hemingway that says 'There is no friend as loyal as a book.'"

"Of course that would make sense to you!" I rolled my eyes. "I almost forgot who I was talking to." I grinned at her. She pulled a face at me and began dishing out our dinner. "And who is Hemingway anyway? Ha! That rhymes," I grinned to myself.

"He was an American novelist. He wrote many popular Muggle novels." She explained briefly, knowing I wasn't really interested. "So, why did you bring this up? Do you think I'm going to finish up as a ghost in a library?"

"No. Though, it wouldn't surprise me." I added as an afterthought. "Reckon you'd love being surrounded by your books forever more." I laughed.

"Thanks." She poked her tongue out at me. "I do love books. But, I don't think I'm quite as lonely as that woman. There are people in my life I love more and…those who give me a different kind of satisfaction." She winked at me and I almost choked on my dinner.

"Good to know," I coughed and took a sip of pumpkin juice to ease my sudden dry throat. "Anyway, back to the topic...Joyce said this old woman, the ghost, Shirley I think her name was. She said that she doesn't trust anyone in her library. The Ministry can't even employ anyone else to take the job on because she scares them off. She gets pissed off with anyone messing about in there or not treating her books properly and stuff. So, I was just wondering..." I paused, wondering how she would react to the idea of a ghost having seen us getting...busy! "Well, maybe that is what happened the other night? We offended her and she thought we were mistreating her books and stuff, so she scared us off, punished us for defiling her library."

"Hmm," Hermione thought about it as she took a bite of food. "Well, I can see how you would come to that conclusion. But, it doesn't really make much sense, does it? I mean, if those books meant so much to her and she protects them like that, why would she throw them at us and risk damaging them? Even I wouldn't throw my books across a room, no matter how angry I was."

"Huh?" I looked up, surprised. "You've attacked me with books before!" I stared at her, wide eyed.

"Actually, no. I might have hit you with a book once or twice, but I have never thrown them at you!" She pointed out.

"No," I sighed and then spying the jug of gravy we'd left on the side, I got up to bring it to the table. "You just set birds on me!" I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that" she pointed her fork at me. "And, at the time, you deserved it!"

I sat back down and shook my head, wondering why I deserved being attacked by birds just because I had kissed another girl when I had been perfectly free and single to do so. Okay, it had not been the girl I had really wanted to kiss and I never really had true feelings for Lavender. I had just been flattered that someone had at least found me attractive at the time and wanted me, when I was convinced Hermione never would.

"Yes, love." I gave her a smile across the table, deciding it was better just to agree with her than argue my case.

She smiled, a little smugly, in return and we continued eating our dinner. I had decided not to tell her about the gossip currently going around the Auror department, hoping it would never reach her ears. Because I knew if she knew that anyone even suspected it had been us, she'd be mortified and so upset – so why put her through that when the gossip would hopefully die down in a few days?

My decision not to tell her had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I knew if she knew what people were saying, then I would never be able to convince her to do anything like that with me ever again!

* * *

"Oi! Watch it, you prat!" Harry yelled at me when I quite suddenly darted around the end of the aisle in George's shop, knocking over a pile of items and almost Harry in the process.

"Sorry," I muttered peering from behind the shelf of merchandise, whilst Harry bent down to re-pile everything I had knocked over in my haste.

Since Hermione was stuck at her parents, because she had promised to help them clear out the loft, I had given up another Saturday to help George in the shop – something I still did when I had spare time. Harry, also at a loose end because Ginny was away training again, had offered to help. George currently had us doing tedious jobs like restocking shelves and such.

"I thought I heard a French accent," I hissed, looking around anxiously.

"Yeah, you did," Harry nodded his head towards the front of the shop, "Your sister-in-law just came in. Remember her, Fleur?" He asked a little scathingly.

I sighed and came out of hiding. "Sorry," I helped him pick everything up. "Just, I thought Céleste might have tracked me down here. I'm trying to avoid her."

"Why?" he asked. "Has she got worse or something?"

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. "Last Monday she asked me out." I rolled my eyes. "I told her that I didn't think my girlfriend would like that very much and she got a bit narked off with me. Honestly, you should have seen the look on her face when I turned her down – anyone would think I'd just kicked her beloved puffskein or something. It was scary. I actually think she's a bit, well...bonkers!"

Harry laughed. "That would at least explain why she seems to fancy you then!" He slapped me on the back.

"Piss off!" I shoved his hand away and picked up a few boxes of Extendable Ears to put on the shelf. "I'm serious. I think she's stalking me!" I whispered.

Harry laughed again, thinking I was joking, "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Erm, let's see...maybe because she always seems to pop up wherever I am. She doesn't even work on the same floor as us, yet she's _always_ there. Not to mention that she seems a bit, well obsessive or something."

"So now you're hiding from her"?

"Avoiding her," I corrected. Although, I suppose that was the same as hiding from her, I'd had some near misses in the past week and they had all been something of a disaster.

Tuesday, the day after she'd asked me out, I was minding my own business, heading to the loo at work, when she rounded the corner. Quickly, I darted into the nearest doorway, only to be met by a woman shrieking. I had looked back, after peering through a crack in the door, to find a woman stood by the sink with a lipstick in her hand.

"This is the ladies!" She told me, sternly.

"Oops! Yeah. So it is," I smiled and peeked out the door again. Céleste was coming closer and I scurried back, praying she wasn't going to come in here.

"Well?" She put her hand on her hip and glared at me. "Aren't you going to leave?"

"Erm, yeah. Just, give me a minute!" I stammered, scurrying into a cubicle and locking the door behind me.

"Honestly! The very idea of it. I suggest you get out of here before I report you to your superior!" she snapped then.

"Okay, you do that." I replied.

I heard her huff and then some rustling as she gathered her things together before finally the click clack of her heals as she left, muttering to herself the whole time. To be honest, facing yet another reprimand from Robards over some petty issue was much more pleasant than facing Céleste right now. Besides, I think Robards had more important things to worry about than me entering the ladies toilets.

A couple of days later I hadn't been so lucky in avoiding her. I was just leaving the staff canteen with Neville when she cornered me by the door. "Oh, hello. Can't stop. Got to get back to work!" I looked to Neville for help, but the git had just wondering off ahead of me, oblivious to my fate.

"I just am wanting to tell you, I ees sorry." She smiled sadly. "And, I understand you."

"Oh, great. Thanks." I nodded, trying to side step her.

"Eet will be okay, non?" She asked, looking up at me through her fringe.

"Erm, yeah, sure, fine." I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck, wondering how Neville could just wander off and not even notice I wasn't with him – we'd been in the middle of a conversation for Merlin's sake!

"Zat ees good!" She exclaimed happily, her face lighting up again.

"Right, well got to go. Can't be late back again!" I finally managed to dart passed her and catch up with Neville who seemed surprised when I ran to his side.

Yesterday had been the worst though. I was heading home at the end of my shift, walking towards the elevators, when she was there again. Without thinking I barged into the nearest doorway to hide from her and slammed it shut behind me. Only then did I look up to see where I was and the sight that met me almost made me lose my lunch.

Ms Ashby was stood with her leg up on the chair, her robes hitched up to her hips as she pointed her wand at her stockings, fixing a ladder in them. She had been so stunned over my abrupt arrival that she was frozen in place, glaring at me. I looked away sharply, not needing to see that.

"Weasley!" She eventually spat. "What do you want?" She demanded and finally realising her robes were still hitched up over her legs, she pushed them down hastily.

"Oh, erm...sorry, wrong room. I'm, erm, sorry, didn't mean to er..." I was rambling as I scrabbled behind me for the doorknob, desperate to leave. "Really sorry Ms..Ashby. You just. You carry on and I'll go and...a big mistake...yes, right going."

I rambled, becoming flustered when I couldn't get out as she continued to give me a death glare, her lips pursed and not saying a word – which was probably worse than her yelling at me.

Finally, I grasped the door handle, yanked it open and almost fell out of her office. "Eurgh," I shuddered as the door closed behind me. And, in a near state of shock, forgetting I had been on my way home, I wandered back towards my desk in our departments bullpen where Harry was still packing his things up.

"I thought you left?" He looked up. "Ron? Are you all right?" He asked when I didn't respond.

"I just...I saw something I shouldn't." I gave another shudder as I sat down heavily on my desk.

"What?" Harry looked worried. "Is something wrong? Are you okay?" He hurried over to me.

"I...I walked into Ms Ashby's office by mistake. And she, she... had her robes up and I saw….too much," I shook my head. "Just too damn much. There are some things a bloke shouldn't see, you know." I looked at him imploringly. "Like...like seeing your parents do it. Eurgh!" I groaned again, horrified at that thought now as well.

"You're not making much sense." Harry shook his head.

I sighed, scrubbed my face with my hands as though I could erase the image and then told him what had happened. By the end of it, he was almost pissing himself with laughter.

"It was not funny! I am probably scarred for life now. Not to mention what she'll do when she's over the shock of the incident." I groaned.

"Come on," Harry slapped my back, "let's go home."

"Fine, but we're stopping at the Leaky on the way. I need a stiff drink!"

After a couple of drinks I had felt much better, at least until Harry had found it necessary to tell Hermione and Ginny about my day when we got home. They had found it hilarious as I sat there, mortified about it all.

"Is that what you were doing yesterday? When you barged in on Ms Ashby? Were you hiding from Céleste?" Harry asked, bringing my attention back to the present day in the shop.

"Look, I know you think this is all very funny. But, I tell you that girl is weird! She might have seemed perfectly sweet and friendly at first, but she honestly seems a bit spell damaged, you know, very strange. And I don't mean in that quirky, fun way that Luna is. Céleste, she makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Hmm, well you'd best be careful not to eat or drink anything she offers you. I mean, you remember those laced chocolates Romilda gave me? You don't want a repeat of your 17th birthday, do you?"

"Bloody hell!" I gasped. "I never even thought of that – not going through that again." I looked towards the till where my brother was chatting with a customer. "I'll ask George to make sure he doesn't sell any bloody love potions to any French girls!" I decided and rushed over to tell him.

"Ron!" Harry shouted after me. "You can't do that!"

I ignored him. I wasn't taking any risks with this. Somehow, I just knew that Céleste was bad news.

* * *

Harry sleepily stumbled out of the fireplace right behind me, rubbing his eyes and yawning. I felt as bad as he looked. Four days ago we'd both been called upon to head out on a mission and we were only just returning home.

"Mind if I grab the shower first?" Harry mumbled, trudging towards the bathroom.

"Nah, go ahead. 'M too tired anyway. I'll just cast a quick refreshing charm and crawl into bed," I replied, heading for my room, already kicking my shoes off.

We'd been excited at first – heading off, out on our own, on a mission. We thought it would be a doddle – guarding a prominent Wizarding family who had provided evidence in a case against Death Eaters still on the loose. After the family had received some threats, they'd been given guards until the case was over and the criminals put away. We took shifts with another pair of Aurors, swapping over every 12 hours and everything was going well, if somewhat boring once the novelty wore off.

That was until everything went wrong. Harry and I were on shift, just about to change over in fact, when we were attacked by an army of dark witches and wizards. We managed to hold them off, on our own, long enough to call for back up as the other team got the family out to safety. It was a long battle, but we managed to catch seven of them and two more had been killed. We'd then had to round them all up, cart them off to await trial and report back at the Ministry where paperwork had to be filled out.

By now, Harry and I had been awake over 24 hours – we were exhausted, filthy and hungry. But right now, all I could think about was falling into my bed, burrowing under the duvet and sleeping for at least the next 12 hours.

I began throwing my clothes off, too tired to care about being tidy. The room was darkened and I didn't think to check it, why would I? So, when a voice spoke from the darkness, I yelped and foolishly covered myself with the shirt I'd just removed.

"Ron, you're home." Hermione murmured, rolling over in my bed.

"H'mione," I breathed, dropping the shirt and feeling like an idiot when I realised it was only her. "What are you doing here?" I kicked off my jeans that were around my ankles and sat on the bed to pull my socks off.

"Aren't you pleased to see me?" She pushed herself up on her elbow. I couldn't see her face clearly in the darkness, but I knew from her tone that she was pouting.

"Yeah, course I am. I'm just surprised. Didn't think you'd sleep here when I'm not home." I added, climbing under the covers.

"I'm so glad you're home," she breathed then, burying her head against me as her arms wrapped me up in a big cuddle. "I've had such a horrible week." She sniffed.

I smiled to myself, feeling a little pleased that she had apparently missed me so much she'd had a miserable week without me. Not that I had wanted her to be miserable or anything, but it was proof that she wanted me in her life and loved me.

"Yeah, I missed you too," I sighed, settling into her side and closed my eyes as the tiredness overwhelmed me.

"People at work have been so mean!" She then added indignantly, pulling back and sitting against the headboard. "My things have been going missing from my desk, including the photo of us I keep there. My favourite quill has just seemingly vanished and then any progress I make with my work just disappears. I know someone is playing some stupid prank on me or something, but they all deny it and it's really not funny!" She carried on. Did she really need to chatter on about all of this right this very moment? "On top of all that, everyone in the department is giving me the cold shoulder. I see them whispering behind my back and they all clam up whenever I walk into a room or walk by. And more than once I have seen someone make everyone in the office a cup of tea and never even bothered to ask me! It's just, it's so mean and petty and childish." She wailed, slapping her hands down on top of the duvet.

"H'mione, I..." I began, tiredly. All I wanted was to sleep and she was going on about someone nicking her quill or something, After the week I'd had? Really? I realised then that she hadn't even asked if I was okay, how the mission had gone or anything. This was all about her.

"And then, my office chair went missing. The really comfortable one. And it's been replaced with this wonky thing that almost tips up every time I sit down and I know they all laugh about it. It's just been so horrible..."

"Yeah? I can imagine. Fancy someone not making you a cup of tea and stealing your nice chair?" I fake gasped. "It sounds dreadful, really makes what I've been through the last few days nothing, huh? Imagine losing your quill when I almost got my arse hexed off more than once. Really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" I replied, angrily.

"Ron? What are you..." She frowned at me – from this close I could see her features now. "Why are you arguing with me?" She seemed honestly confused.

"Really?" I sat up beside her. "I've just got home from a near five day mission. I haven't slept in the last 24 hours, I can't remember when I last ate or even had time for a piss and you're here crying to me about your colleagues being mean to you, seriously?"

"I...I just. I haven't had anyone to talk to all week, no one I could speak to about this anyway. No one who would care or understand."

"I do care," I inhaled deeply. "But, you didn't even ask me if I was all right or…"

"But I can see you're all right, you're here, you're alive." She interrupted me.

"Or," I continued as though she hadn't spoken, "asked if everything went okay or shown any concern at all. And for your information, it almost didn't go okay. We got attacked. Harry and I managed to hold off about a dozen evil gits until help arrived. But, for a few hours there it was bad...and..."

"I'm sorry." She spat the word then. "I just, I didn't..."

"Why are you even here? In my bed?" I wondered.

"You want me to leave?" she asked, sounding sad.

I huffed, not wanting to upset her – but I was tired and annoyed and perhaps even a little hurt that my girlfriend hadn't given me a heroes welcome home. Stupid I know, but it would be nice to know she cared. "No. I just want to go to sleep and we'll talk about this later, when I've caught up." I flopped back down in the bed, rolled over and pulled the covers up around my neck.

Hermione sat beside me on the bed for awhile, she must have been debating with herself what to do, before I felt her slide back down into the bed beside me.

"I was in your bed because I missed you and I thought being around your things and your scent on your sheets might help." She murmured. "And for the record I am so relieved that you're all right, that you returned safely to me. I always will be." She added, sliding a hand across my back and squeezing my arm softly.

I inhaled softly and smiled to myself. It must have been the exhaustion, because what she had said was rather...sweet. I rolled over then and took her in my arms, suddenly needing to hold her. I kissed her forehead once before closing my eyes again.

"I do love you, Ron." I heard her whisper before sleep took me.

* * *

 _Not really sure where that little argument came from! I never intended to write it when I began this chapter, but I have learnt that Ron and Hermione often hijack my writing._

 _I hope you enjoyed...and please review to make me smile :)_

 _More soon..._


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for all the reviews to my last chapter, as always they are very much appreciated. Apologies for not replying to anyone recently, been a bit busy and distracted - I shall do my best to get back to you all soon._

 _I won't go on, here's the next chapter for your reading pleasure._

 **Chapter 6**

"Hermione?" I called, hoping she was home. I was quite sure we'd arranged to meet up after work today, so we could head straight out for dinner together tonight. Only when I had arrived at her office a short time ago, they informed me she had already left. I had rushed home, hoping that I had just misunderstood her and everything was okay.

"Hermione?" I repeated, discarding my cloak and boots before wandering around the flat in search of her. Pausing by my bedroom doorway, I smiled when I caught sight of the lump wiggling under my duvet. I watched her for a few moments, thinking she was going to do something cheesy like jump out to try and surprise me. But then an entirely different image filled my mind that had me almost drooling at the thought - what if she was naked under there and waiting for me? "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm done!" Came the muffled reply. "I quit!"

"You quit?" I frowned. "You quit what?" I asked with my heart in my mouth, thinking for a moment that she meant us. Worried all of a sudden that she'd had enough of me and wanted out of our relationship.

"Everything!" She muttered. "I just can't do this any more, it's too hard and...I hate it all." She added, still beneath the covers.

"Hermione," I sighed gently, climbing onto the bed and pushing a hand under the duvet to grab a hand or rub her back or something, wanting to comfort her and talk her out of whatever she was thinking.

"Not now Ronald!" She shrieked and lurched away from me when my hand touched her backside. "I'm not in the mood!"

"I wasn't trying to do anything!" I yelped back. "I was simply going to comfort you since you're obviously upset about something." I explained, trying to peal back the blankets from her head.

She huffed when her head finally popped out of the top - her usually wild and curly hair was now a mass of uncontrollable frizz about her face. She pushed it back hastily and huffed again. "I just...I hate my job. I hate it! I hate everything about it and everyone there! So, I am going to hide under here forever!" She sulked and was about to disappear beneath the covers again.

"Hermione," I tried not to laugh at her uncharacteristic tantrum and tugged the duvet from her so I could take her into my arms. "Come on love, tell me what's wrong?" I asked her softly, relieved it wasn't me she was mad with.

She looked up at me, her eyes looked red, as though she'd been crying and she looked so miserable I offered her a smile and kissed the tip of her nose. Gradually, she began to explain the cause of her mood.

"Nothing ever changes and people are ridiculous! It's like being a first year at school all over again with people thinking I'm just some stuck-up know it all, so no one wants to even speak to me." She almost pouted at me.

"Hey, no one thought that about you..." I faded off when I caught the look she was giving me.

Her eyes opened wide as she just stared at me with a dumbfounded expression, knowing as well as I did how much of a lie that was. I had been the worst culprit after all. Truth was, she had intimidated me back then – made me nervous about my school work and doubt my own abilities. So, I did what any 11 year old boy did – I lashed out irrationally.

"Well, okay...I suppose some of us did, at first. But Harry and I, once we got to know you better, we soon realised there was much more to you than that stuff and we got used to you. I mean," I quickly corrected myself when I saw her face drop, "that we realised how great you really were. We liked you and valued you as our friend. Those prats at work will soon realise that and things will get better. I promise," I murmured and kissed the top of her head as I rolled to my back, tugging her with me so that her head rested against my chest.

"I got into trouble at work." She mumbled then, fiddling with a button on my shirt. "Like, big trouble with the boss." She sniffed.

" _Y_ _ou did_?" I asked completely surprised, raising my eyebrows as I lifted my head to peer at her. Hermione Granger? In trouble? Had I heard that correctly? Had she been caught hexing one of those gits who had started being mean to her last week? "Do you want to tell me what happened?" I asked, trying to be sensitive, and not awed by this new information.

She inhaled slowly and brushed her hair back as I tightened my hold on her waist, giving her support as she began to tell me her story of what had happened today.

" _Now, Ms Granger, because you asked permission and because it's for official research, I am going to allow you to borrow this file." Mrs Horton, head of the Beast division, handed Hermione a manila folder full of parchment and documents. "I don't need to remind you how vital this is or that all information within this file is highly confidential."_

" _Of course Ma'am and thank you." She took the file from her, holding it close to her chest. "I will guard it with my life."_

" _That's what I like to hear. I know you want to gain more experience in compiling a professional case and I think reading over my reports and documents may help. However, it is imperative that I get it all back, safely, by 3.30 this afternoon. I will need it for my hearing with the Wizengamot." She reminded her._

" _Yes, of course Ma'am. I will make sure it's back with you, within plenty of time. And thank you again, I am most grateful for this opportunity." She smiled at the older witch before her, desperate to impress and prove her worth._

" _Good. Make use of this time and take notes," she instructed and then headed back to her office, leaving Hermione to eagerly open the file and begin to read._

 _Unsurprisingly, Hermione became engrossed in her reading, sitting through her lunch hour even,as she made scrolls full of detailed notes and studied each page carefully. It caught her by surprise when she happened to glance up and realise that it was almost three in the afternoon and that she hadn't moved in the last five hours._

 _With a little stretch, she got up, carefully placing the folder under a pile of books on her desk for safe keeping and rushed to the ladies. She only had another half an hour and was hoping to finish the last couple of pages before her boss needed it back._

 _By the time she returned to her desk and sat down, reaching for the file, Mrs Horton was already breathing down her neck, holding her hand out for the folder. "I'm afraid I shall need it now Ms Granger. Perhaps you can peruse it again once this case is closed."_

" _Oh, yes, certainly." She rummaged around on her desk. "Thank you, it's been very insightful," she smiled, pushing aside the pile of book it was under and pulled it out. She handed it over, giving her boss a big, grateful smile that quickly turned to a look of shocked dismay when she realised the state the folder was in._

 _It was dripping wet, covered in what looked like tea and already she could see that the ink on the parchment was smudged and many documents and photo evidence were ruined. Hermione glanced back to her desk, looking for signs of a spilled drink or anything that could have caused such a mess. She was confused, since she hadn't had any tea today, hadn't had a drink at all save for a sip from the water cooler out in the corridor just now. She dared look back at her boss, fearful of her reaction._

 _Mrs Horton followed Hermione's gaze and upon seeing the state her folder and all her hard work was in, she turned red in anger and fixed a steely gaze upon Hermione. "WHAT is the meaning of this?" She barked shaking the folder and sending more droplets splashing around._

" _I...I don't know." Hermione said in a choked whisper. "I mean, I'm sure I didn't do that, I haven't had any drinks at my desk today or anything. I never even left the file unattended until a couple of minutes ago when I went to use the ladies. And it was fine when I left it, right here, under these books." She gestured to the books in question, wondering how they were perfectly dry and why there was no puddle of liquid around the area._

" _I trusted you with this Ms Granger. Do you know how vital all of this is for my case? How many months of hard work is now ruined because of your irresponsibility?"_

" _But, I...I didn't. I don't..."_

" _Save your excuses dear!" she snapped. "This is totally unacceptable! I thought you were a conscientious worker, someone who took pride in others work and that I could trust you. And then, you do this!" She held up the ruined item, shaking her head and looking so angry she might just explode._

" _I am sorry. But I don't know how..."  
_

" _I don't want to hear it!" She held up her hand to silence her. "I have to see if I can salvage any of this before my case starts. As for you, this will be written up as an official warning and kept on permanent record. And we'll also see about demoting your duties if you can't be trusted with important matters."_

 _Hermione shot up at that – she had fought for this job, begged for it and now it was all to be ruined for something that wasn't even her fault. "Please Mrs Horton, that's unfair. I am sorry it was damaged, but I really didn't do it. I don't even know how this happened. And..."  
_

" _I don't have time for you right now Ms Granger. Make sure you come to my office tomorrow morning – nine am sharp!" She instructed firmly and turned on her heal, muttering to herself as she held the soggy file between her fingers._

 _Hermione sat silently at her desk, feeling humiliated and dumbfounded as to what happened. She was aware of the quietness in the entire office, knowing that everyone had witnessed the spectacle. She had never felt so low in months – this was really the last straw after everything that had been happening at work lately, and unable to fight them back any more, the tears fell – hot, angry tears of frustration. Sensing that everyone was still watching her and whispering amongst themselves, she shot out of her seat and ran the full length of the department, not stopping until she reached the ladies loo's again. Locking herself away in a cubicle, she sobbed into her hands._

She was in tears again by the time she finished telling me all about it and I felt bad for her, pissed off that this bitch of a woman wouldn't even let her explain and just as confused as Hermione as to how this could have happened. Had some mean dickhead in the department done it just to get her into trouble?

"I still don't know how it happened," she sniffed. "I've...I've never been in trouble at my job before and with everyone watching, it was so horrible." Her voice wobbled on another sob.

"Hey come on. It will be all right." I put my arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. "You'll see, this will all blow over soon enough. I mean, heck...I'm in trouble every other day with Robards," I laughed, trying to cheer her up. "I'm always getting called into his office to get told off for taking a long lunch break or not getting my reports finished on time or something. It's nothing." I shrugged, hoping to put her mind at ease.

"Nothing?" She snapped, sitting up and pushing me off her. "Ron, this is going onto my permanent record. A reprimand for not doing my job correctly, for not being professional!" She wailed, her voice becoming more and more hysterical. "I can kiss away any chance of ever getting a promotion or anyone else employing me, ever!" She broke down in tears again.

"I'm sorry, love," I sighed, realising that I had said totally the wrong thing. Of course she'd take it much harder - she prided herself on doing any job well, following protocol and impressing people. She liked her rules – always had done. Oh, we'd broken plenty of them in our time at school – but always because we had no choice or a fate much worse was at stake. I had sounded as though I didn't know Hermione at all with my flippant comment

"Hermione, listen to me." I turned her face to look at me as she wiped away her tears once more with the back of her hand. I summoned a tissue for her and she blew her nose. "Your name and your experiences are worth more than this job. No, just listen to me." I warned her when I could see she was about to blow up at me again and tell me her job was very important. "You fought in and helped win a bloody war for Merlin's sake. Your intellect and responsibility kept Harry and I alive for months. The damn Minister himself sings your praises! If someone doesn't promote you or give you a job after all that, merely based upon what some snotty woman writes about you spilling a drink or whatever, then they don't deserve you. You're so much better than them Hermione, you're worth a hundred of those idiots."

She wiped her eyes again and gave me a little smile. "I've just been working so hard these last few months to make a good impression and prove myself worthy of the job, to feel settled there. How can one stupid mistake ruin all that? You know, I don't expect to be best friends with those people in my office, but..."

"I should hope not!" I butted in, slightly affronted. "Harry and I have had that position filled for years. Okay, and maybe Ginny has wormed her way in there these days too." I teased, but she knew I was right.

She gave me another smile. "I still want them to like me though. Or at least treat me as an equal with some respect."

"If they can't see how hard working, talented and kind hearted you are love, it's their loss." I kissed her forehead before sliding my arm around her again.

"Thank you," she leant over and kissed me, her hand caressing my cheek softly. "I still don't understand what happened to that stupid folder – none of it makes any sense. But, you're right – one stupid little mistake I didn't even cause is not going to define my professional career. I am going into that office tomorrow with my head held high and I am going to prove to the old bag that I deserve my job and I'm damn good at it!"

I grinned, feeling so proud of her. I loved it when she got fired up and passionate about stuff. Her whole demeanour changed. "That's the Hermione I know and love!" I pulled her into my arms and we fell into a heap together on the bed, which made us both snort.

My mouth was soon claiming hers in a deep kiss and for a few intense minutes we were rolling around the bed. At least until my damn stomach growled with hunger. I pulled back sheepishly, flushing slightly as Hermione giggled at me. Stupid bloody stomach, just thinking of itself at a time like this.

I rolled my eyes then as we parted and lay on our backs on the bed, laughing together. "How about," I inhaled deeply, "since you've had such a crap day, I nip out and get us a take-a-way?"

"That sounds nice. I'm not in the mood to go out to eat now, but some fish and chips or something sounds good." She agreed.

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit," I kissed her forehead before climbing off the bed and heading out.

For the rest of the evening I made sure that I kept her distracted, so she had no time to dwell on what had happened and get miserable about it again. And I certainly enjoyed myself thoroughly in that process.

We met up for lunch the following afternoon and I asked her how things had gone with Mrs Horton that morning.

She smiled brightly, something I hadn't been expecting. "I think she was surprised to see me waiting outside her office before she even got there. And then I strolled right into her office behind her, full of confidence and I said that although I didn't cause what happened or know how it had occurred, that I took full responsibility since the file had been in my possession at the time. And I was very sorry for any inconvenience caused."

"What did she say to that?" I asked.

She chuckled, another good sign. "I think she was lost for words at first. She seemed rather flummoxed. Anyway, she said she would accept my apology and that after much consideration she was going to give me another chance in my current position, after all mistakes and accidents happen, she said. And she pointed out that my work so far has been exemplary and she knew I had the aptitude for it, so she didn't want to lose me. However, it's still going on my record."

"Are you still worried about that?" I wondered, taking a bite of my sandwich.

She shrugged. "I think you were right. If someone can't see past a silly report over an accident and not take into consideration my vast experience and good grades,"

"Exceptional grades," I cut in though a mouthful of bread and chicken.

She smiled, gratefully. "Then I don't think they're someone I want to work for anyway."

"That's my girl!" I pumped my fist into the air, full of pride, though wishing I could actually throw myself across the table and snog her silly. There was just something about Hermione when she got all cocky and smart that turned me on.

"Thank you for calming me down last night and making me look at things logically. I just, I hate not being in control of things like that and I don't like being in trouble." She sighed, picking at her own lunch.

"That's what boyfriends are for, right?" I shrugged. "All part of being in a relationship, being there for each other, through good and bad."

She gazed at me thoughtfully, tilting her head to one side as a smile grew on her lips. "Look at you, becoming all grown up and mature about relationships. I'm so proud." She laughed lightly whilst giving me a soppy look and covering her mouth with her hand. "I do love you," she added in a whisper, reaching for my hand across the table.

"Love you too," I replied, holding her gaze longer than was needed in a busy lunchtime café.

"I still want to know what happened though." She shook off the moment and returned to her salad, stabbing a slice of cucumber with her fork. "It just doesn't make sense. It's almost as though someone did it deliberately to get me into trouble. Because, even if someone had done it accidentally in passing, there would have been a puddle on my desk, and..."

"Don't think on it too much, love." I patted her hand. "But, if someone is bothering you like that, remind them that your boyfriend is a big, strong Auror. And that I will kick their arse!" I vowed.

"My hero!" she mocked, fluttering her eyelashes girlishly as she clasped her hands to her chest. Before we both broke into a fit of laughter and finished our lunch.

* * *

That weekend, we were all summoned home to my parents for dinner – the entire family, no exceptions – for Bill's birthday. Even Charlie had returned home for the weekend and it was a loud, lively affair around the kitchen table – the twelve of us, since Percy had brought his girlfriend Audrey over, all crowded into the snug kitchen.

I caught Mum watching Percy and Audrey together a few times over dinner. I think she had ideas of them making an engagement announcement soon and judging from the look on her face, she was already planning another wedding. Perhaps I should give my brother the heads up – he hadn't been around for the planning of Bill's wedding – he had no idea what he would be letting himself in for if he was, in fact, considering proposing.

After Mum had served cake to everyone and taken her seat again, Bill shared a look with Fleur who gave him a tiny little nod in agreement before Bill tinkled his glass with his fork to get everyone's attention. The room went silent as everyone looked towards him expectantly. I looked up slowly, my fork already to my lips with a delicious piece of chocolate cake on it. Hermione noticed and slapped my hand, nodding her head towards my brother. I watched the cake fall sadly back onto my plate with a splat.

"Er herm," he cleared his throat, now looking a bit hesitant as he slowly stood up when Fleur nudged him with her elbow. "Fleur and I, we erm...we have an announcement," he began smiling down at his wife in a rather sickeningly way as he took her hand. He was going to put me off this cake if he didn't get on with it!

Mum gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she gazed at the couple. I heard Hermione beside me whimper too and squeezed my hand under the table. I looked around, wondering what they had noted that I hadn't.

Bill looked up to his family again, a smile growing on his face. "Fleur and I are expecting," he informed us all.

Chaos filled the room, chairs scraping back, Mum bursting into tears and Charlie pounding my brother on the back, telling him well done as Ginny hugged our sister-in-law. I looked on confused, wondering what exactly they were expecting. Why hadn't he finished the sentence and what on earth was everyone so excited about?

I watched in bemusement as Hermione rushed over to hug Fleur too and then Mum got up, wiping away her tears as a massive smile grew on her face. Reaching Fleur, she cupped her face between her hands.

"Oh my dear, that is such wonderful news. You've made me so happy. A baby, my first grandchild!" She sobbed and then wrapped her arms tightly around the astonished French girl as Bill patted his Mum's shoulder. He was pulled into the hug too as Mum told him how proud she was of him and what perfect news this was.

And then it dawned on me. A baby, they were expecting a baby. Fleur was pregnant. Bloody hell! A baby...in our family. My brother was going to a dad! I was going to be an Uncle. Bloody shittin' hell! I was about to become Uncle Ron.

"Isn't that great news!" Hermione beamed at me, tears in her own eyes.

"Erm...yeah," I nodded, unsure how I felt about the fact my big brother was going to be having a baby of his own.

"So, when are you due?" Ginny asked once everyone had calmed down from the initial excitement. Every face in the room was beaming.

Was I the only one who had literally NO idea what that question meant? When was she due for what? Did the mention of babies and pregnancy just make everyone go slightly insane?

Fleur smiled and rubbed her, still currently flat, belly gently as Bill smiled down at her, his arm around her shoulders. I thought he actually looked a little smug, to be honest. "Eet will be 'ere in May." She replied.

What would be here in May? I asked myself.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" Hermione asked.

I gave my girlfriend an incredulous look. She's having a baby – didn't she just tell everyone that? Honestly, keep up people!

"No, Bill and I...we would like a surprise." She smiled at him as he took his seat again and draped his arm around her shoulder.

"Congratulations son, Fleur," Dad spoke up, his arm around Mum who was still mopping up tears of joy on her apron. "This is just the good news our family needed," he added, looking thrilled at the idea of becoming a Grandfather.

"Thanks Dad." Bill beamed. "No doubt I'll be running to you for advice in a few months," he laughed.

"You'll do just fine." Dad replied, with assurance.

I looked at my parents then and realised neither of them had looked this happy in months. They had done such a good job of putting on an act and trying to carry on after the loss of their son, that I hadn't really noticed how much they were still grieving. Now, with the news they were going to be grandparents, they were utterly thrilled – giving them a new step in life or something. And, it was then that I decided this news was great, fantastic even. A new little Weasley was coming into this world and whilst no one would ever replace Fred, this would be a happy addition.

"Congratulations." I finally spoke up, as George was giving Fleur a hug and slapping Bill on the back.

"Thanks little brother!" He grinned at me. "Uncle Ron!" He added with a chuckle.

I smiled. I reckon I could get used to that!

* * *

Christmas seemed to creep up on me all of sudden this year. In fact, had it not been for Hermione asking me what we should do for the festivities, I might not have even realised the date was quickly approaching.

Back in school I would have been counting down the days, looking forward to a break from lessons, drooling over thoughts of all the sumptuous food we'd soon get to eat (even more so if I was going home to sample Mum's cooking) and obviously wondering what presents I'd get! I suppose it was a testament to the fact I was growing up that I had been so engrossed in life and work, and enjoying my time spent with my girlfriend and mates that I hadn't noticed the weeks passing by.

There was also a downside to the Christmas period these days – our department was busier than ever. Witches and wizards everywhere were getting into the party spirit a little too early – getting drunk, behaving like idiots and then causing some mischief somewhere. Novices, like Harry and I, were sent out to investigate these petty crimes – which only resulted in the odd arrest, many official warnings, a few fines and piles of paperwork.

I was just returning from one of these investigations, having just issued a fine to a bloke who had managed to overturn a flower cart in the market of Diagon Alley during a drunken rage, destroying it's owners products in the process and now I had to deal with the reams of boring paperwork these crimes created. Grabbing the required documents to fill in, I had just sat down at my desk when I heard someone shouting my name. Glancing up, I noted someone running towards me at a speed.

"Mr Weasley!" He panted as he reached my desk, leaning over to catch his breath.

"Ron," I corrected him – it felt weird to be called Mr Weasley – that was my Dad! "Hey, steady on mate, what's the hurry?" I attempted to calm him when he began to wheeze. I didn't recognise the bloke and found myself curious as to what he wanted. "What's up?" I set down my quill.

He looked up then, anxiety written on his face as he considered his words. "I was sent to find you," he began. "See, there, erm, there's been a bit of an accident."

"What? An accident? Who?" I leapt to my feet, now anxious myself. My mind flitted between my family, Hermione and Harry. "What's happened?" I demanded, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It, it's Ms Granger." I was gone before he'd even finished saying her name, running for the elevator.

He chased after me, trying to explain. "She's at the healer clinic on level one. Some colleagues brought her in. I don't know any more details because I was sent to find you."

I barged past people exiting the lift, ignoring their protests as the lad jumped in behind me. I was frantically pressing the button for level one continuously before the damn thing began to move. I took the moment to take a deep breath, hoping to steady my nerves, but truth was I was in a state of panic. My mind began conjuring terrible scenarios, each more dreadful than the last. She worked in the Beasts division for Merlin's sake...she could have been badly scorched by a dragon – heck knows I had seen enough burns on Charlie. She could have been bitten or poisoned by an Acromantula. There were the Centaurs who didn't think too highly of humans, they could have mistaken Hermione wanting to help and attacked her. Or...bloody hell, was it possible there was another bloody Basilisk out there?

I was getting myself into a complete state as my mind came up with more and more ridiculous scenarios, as though taunting me. But, I was so panicked my mind was thinking the worst and I didn't know what I was going to find. I had experienced many heart stopping moments already in my life, but that didn't mean you ever got used to it.

The lift finally arrived at level one and I raced out down the corridor, the lad trailing behind me. I knew exactly where I was going – I had been sent to the clinic myself plenty of times after missions or else accompanying a fellow Auror there. It just saved time for treating minor injuries and was easier than a trip to a busy St Mungo's.

I barged through the doorway, skidding to a halt when the welcome witch stopped me going any further. The clinic consisted of the reception and waiting room, two small examination rooms, a four bedded ward for recovery and a couple of Healer offices.

"Can I help you?" She asked patiently.

I just starred at her dumbfounded, after all, I was a regular visitor here – she should know me by name by now! "Ron Weasley," I gasped. "I was told that…"

"Ah, good, you found him." A Medi-witch exclaimed, emerging from around a corner and looking behind me towards the lad who was still following me. "Well done Simon." She smiled at him as he fell into a chair to recover. "Now, Mr Weasley, I don't want you to worry. Ms Granger is going to be fine. She has a few bumps and bruises, but no lasting damage." She tried to reassure me.

"Can I see her?" I asked, eagerly, bouncing on my feet to be with her.

"The healer is still with her right now. She was a bit shaken up, which was why we sent for you. I understand her parents are Muggles?" she asked.

I nodded, running my hand through my hair, anxious to see she was okay for myself.

"I'll just go and check if you can go in." She smiled at my obviously frantic demeanour and patted my shoulder, before knocking on the examination door and poking her head around. "Mr Weasley is here," she announced.

"Ron?" I heard Hermione's voice sounding soft and feeble and that was it, I pushed passed the medi-witch and invited myself into the room.

"Are you all right?" I flitted to her side, taking hold of her hand. "What happened?" I asked, hardly allowing her chance to answer either question before I kissed her soundly.

She winced and pulled back, laying her head slowly on the pillows of the cot she was lying on.

"Sorry," I cried, worried I had hurt her.

"Ms Granger will be fine." The healer began to explain, taking a seat as I perched beside Hermione. "She received a blow to the head, which is why we thought it best to check her out. Her head is fine though," he quickly added when he saw my look of concern. "There's no obvious sign of concussion – but it's something we need to watch for. And somehow she escaped with no broken bones. But she does have a few nasty bumps and no doubt some bruising too." he smiled.

"But, what happened?" I wondered. What had she been doing to get a blow to the head? Boxing with a troll?

She sighed and closed her eyes momentarily before answering me. "A bookcase fell on me." She answered slowly. "I don't know how. I was just walking by in it in our office, heard a creak and then the whole thing, books, boxes and all, toppled over and I was trapped underneath."

"But, you're okay?" I asked, casting my eyes up and down her before glancing back to the healer for further confirmation.

"Yes," she sighed softly. "I just have a bit of a headache." She rubbed her forehead and winced again.

"That should fade soon after the pain potion I gave you. But, a concussion could still develop, so you need to watch her carefully for the next few hours. Will you be able to take her home so she can rest?" He asked me.

"Sure," I nodded, certain I'd be able to get the afternoon off work. "I'll just have to inform my boss, but then I'll get you home and into bed." I smiled, gently kissing her forehead, mindful of her injuries this time.

"Good. I think that's all she really needs. Though if you have any more pain, I trust you have some pain potion at home?"

I nodded - with our job, Harry and I kept a good supply brewed. It was one of the very few potions we had become masters at since becoming Aurors.

"Then, so long as you or someone is able to stay home with her, you are free to go Ms Granger." He smiled. "But, if anything further develops – blurred vision or vomiting, then head straight to St Mungo's. And make sure you rest!" He instructed her, before leaving the room.

I softly kissed her forehead again. "I'll just go clear it with Robards and I'll be right back, okay love?" I whispered, climbing off the bed.

"Thank you Ron." She smiled, grabbing my hand.

"What for?" I frowned - she had nothing to thank me for. "I'm just bloody glad you're okay. I...you scared me!" I admitted.

"I'm sorry." She pouted and looked so completely adorable, I couldn't help myself and kissed her again.

"I'll be right back." I smiled and backed out of the room.

I ran back to my department on the second floor and after explaining what had happened to my boss, he thankfully allowed me to take the afternoon off, though it was coming out of my holiday allowance. I wasn't bothered about that – Hermione was my only concern right now.

Within an hour, I had her safely back at the flat and tucked up in my bed. "Ron, I'm not sick. I'm fine," she complained when I fluffed the pillows for her.

"You heard what the healer said! You need to rest!" I pointed to the bed. "So that is what you're doing!" I informed her, not taking any nonsense. "Now, would you like anything to drink or eat? Need anything else?" I asked, stepping back.

"Some tea would be nice. But, Ron...please don't fuss."

"Shush woman!" I poked my tongue out at her. "If I want to make a fuss over you, I will. Now, I'll be right back with that tea.

Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, I released a huge sigh of relief, glad things weren't half as bad as I'd been expecting. That had been frightening – scared again that I might lose her. I hadn't had to worry about that for some time. I knew I loved Hermione – I had for years. But occasionally it still surprised me just how much she meant to me and the fact that I, though I had never actually admitted it out loud yet, intended on spending the rest of my life with her. I bit my lip and sniffed back tears that threatened to fall – I could not let her see me cry and think I was a sap. I made us both some tea and, as an afterthought, grabbed the rest of the chocolate cake Mum had sent over the day before.

I returned to the bedroom and climbed onto the bed with her, passing her a mug. "Okay?" I asked. "Do you need any pain potion?"

"I'm fine Ron." She smiled at me, leant back against the pillows and cradled her mug between her hands. "Really," she added.

I gave her a smile and a little nod. "I brought some cake too." I showed her what was left after Harry and I had attacked it late last night. "Fancy a slice?"

"Well, maybe just a little," she gave me a little smirk.

I halved the cake that was left and we ate and drank in silence for a few minutes before Hermione set her mug down on the bed side table and adjusted her position in the bed. "So, care to tell me what happened?" I asked, setting my own mug down.

"I already told you." She replied, irritably.

"I know, but I thought there might be more...something you didn't want to say in front of the healer?" I shrugged.

She inhaled and rubbed her closed eyes before turning to face me. As she did, I noticed the bruising was already coming out and I felt bad for her. It looked painful. I'd have to check with Mum, sure that she had a remedy for bruises that would help. "I was walking past the bookcase, heard a creak and the next thing I knew, I was under it. Someone came running, levitating it so they could pull me out. And that's all I remember. It's all a bit fuzzy." She slowly shook her head, then stopped when that was obviously uncomfortable.

"Was there any reason for it to fall? I mean, was it wobbly or something?" I wondered.

She thought about it for a moment. "I must walk past that shelving a dozen times each day, and you know, I have never seen the slightest wobble to it. I suppose that's a bit strange." She mused.

"Yeah, very strange," I agreed.

She was quiet for awhile and I thought maybe she had dozed off. I was about to slide off the bed and go floo Mum to ask about bruising remedies when she spoke again. "I'm starting to think someone has it out for me!" She chuckled lightly.

"What?" I asked, stunned and froze in place half off the bed.

"Well, all the weird things that have been happening at work, first my things go missing. Me getting into trouble for something I didn't do with my boss. And now this. It's just, a little weird it's all happened in the last month, isn't it?" She asked, though I knew she wasn't being serious – Hermione simply liked to find a reason for something, some logic behind it and right now that was as much as her brain could come up with,

"Yeah, really weird." I agreed easily, disguising how her idea really alarmed me. She was right – weird things had been happening for weeks now – not just to her at work. There had been misunderstandings and gossip about us that had caused fights in the last few weeks too. Quite suddenly that ominous dream that seemed so long ago now came back to me. Was it possible it was coming true in some round about way?

Whatever it was, I promised myself to keep a closer eye on things, especially Hermione.

She yawned then and settled her head into the pillow, closing her eyes. "You sleep love, it will help. I'll be here if you need anything." I kissed her on the forehead and silently left the room, leaving her to rest as I went to floo with Mum.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. Remember reviews are like gold to writers...please consider taking a moment to let me know what you think. Thank you. More soon!


	7. Chapter 7

_Have had this chapter ready to post for a bit, then decided at the last minute I didn't like a bit of it and went back to change it - I think I'm ready to share it now. Thank you as always for the feedback and reviews - I shall get back to you soon, I seem to have gotten out of the habit - sorry!_

 _Hope you enjoy this festive chapter...in May :p_

 **Chapter 7**

Hermione rolled over in bed, snuggling in next to me as she nestled her face in the crook of my neck. She curled an arm around my waist, tightening her grasp gently.

"Merry Christmas," she murmured sleepily and pressed her lips against my skin.

I smiled to myself, cuddling her back. "Merry Christmas," I replied. Or at least that is what I meant to say – only it came out as some garbled half yawn instead.

I felt her lips curve into a grin against me, yet neither of us moved, content as we were to bask in the early morning silence a little longer.

The silence was welcome after the mayhem of yesterday. Today wasn't really Christmas day, that had happened the day before, when we'd appeased both of our parents and done our duties. I'd been at home with my family, whilst Hermione spent the morning with her parents to open presents, go to church and have dinner together, before she joined the madness that was my family for tea. Mum had invited Hermione's parents over so we could all be together for the festive day, but it was such a long drive for them from Kent to Devon and back that they had politely declined this year. I think Mum sometimes forgot they were Muggles and couldn't just apparate here or use the floo. And I think Dad was just disappointed that they wouldn't be bringing their car for him to tinker with! Good job really, I don't think the Granger's would have had much of a car left once he'd been at it with his collection of Muggle whatsits!

So, since we were forced to spend Christmas morning apart, not wanting to upset either set of parents, we had decided to celebrate our own Christmas at the flat on Boxing Day. Once Harry and Ginny heard about our plans though they wanted to join us too – insisting it would be more fun with the four of us. I begged to differ, my initial plans had been to stay in bed all day – naked! Instead, we decided we'd save our presents for one another to open this morning, attempt to cook a traditional lunch between us, have a few drinks and just enjoy the day without having to please anyone but ourselves.

Today there would be no competition to have your voice heard over anyone else. No fighting over the last turkey leg at lunch. And no groans of disgust when Mum insisted on listening to the same Celestina Warbeck Christmas special for the 10th year running. And we didn't have to entertain an almost two year old Teddy who was full of excitement and sugar and tore around the place demanding piggy back rides and games on his new toy broomstick his Godfather had, obviously, bought for him. I suspected Andromoda, his Grandmother, had enjoyed being able to sit back and let others deal with him to be honest.

I sighed, snuggling closer to Hermione and looked forward to our quiet, relaxing day. Thankfully she had made a full recovery from the accident a couple of weeks ago – her bruises were all healed, thanks in part to the salve Mum had whipped up for her and she had been back at work a couple of days later where she reported the bookshelf in question had now been secured with a permanent sticking charm to the wall so no more accidents could happen. One good thing had come out of it though, a few of her office colleagues were talking to her again and being more friendly towards her, which she was glad of. And thankfully, nothing else strange had happened. I even seemed to have successfully managed to deter Céleste since she hadn't bothered me in days!

I was quite happily nodding off again, wrapped in the warm cocoon of my girlfriend's loving arms when pounding on the door woke me with a fright. Hermione startled too, her head shooting up and then glancing at me confused.

"Come on you two!" Ginny yelled through our bedroom door. "Put one another down and get your lazy asses out of bed!" She yelled, banging again for good measure. I could hear Harry chuckling outside the door too – remind me to kick him later!

"Sod off Gin'!" I yelled back, laying back down and pulling Hermione alongside me.

"No! You can have sex any time. We have presents out here!" She demanded, sounding incredulous as she banged again. Harry was finding this all rather hilarious. Did he have no control over his girlfriend whatsoever?

"Piss of Ginny! We were asleep!" I yelled again and Hermione began giggling beside me. "Don't you start!" I whispered, poking her in the ribs. She wriggled away from me and laughed louder.

"We'll be out in a minute." Hermione called back to her.

"Fine," I heard Ginny huff, before adding, "about bloody time," under her breath as the voices faded away from the door.

"What did you tell her that for?" I whined. I had been enjoying some quiet time in bed with her.

She brushed the hair off my forehead and kissed me there softly. "Because, no matter what you think, we are not spending the day in bed, mister! Besides, don't you want to open your presents?"

I gave a disgruntled sigh as I rolled away from her, onto my back, pretending to sulk. What was the point in celebrating Christmas the way we wanted to if I couldn't even get a morning shag out of it?

"Come on, you know you can't resist presents!" She laughed at the expression on my face as she leant over me, walking slender fingers enticingly across my bare chest. "Besides, we can always feign tiredness and come to bed early," she winked, before flinging back the covers and sliding out of bed.

"Well, when you put it that way!" I grinned and hopped out of bed myself.

Ten minutes later, we were wrapped in dressing gowns, drinking the tea Ginny had made and munching on hot buttered toast Harry had supplied. I suppose he did have his uses! Ginny had us crowded around the little tree Harry and I had put up a few days ago – decorated sparsely with cast off decorations from home that Mum had donated and a couple that Hermione had bought for us. As well as the ones that Ginny had made. Sometimes, my sister still behaved like a six year old, I realised. Especially right now as she crouched beside the tree and began pulling the gifts out excitedly.

Unsurprisingly Ginny pulled one of her own out first – she'd always managed to do that at home too, ever since she learnt to read her own name from the age of about three! She grinned at Harry after reading the tag and held the small, flat, gift box on her lap.

"Hang on, wait." I stopped her from opening it. "There should be one for Hermione the same size under there. You need to open them together." I muttered whilst rummaging under the tree myself until I found it. I pulled another box out, wrapped in purple sparkly paper and handed it to Hermione with a smile.

The girls thanked us and then tore into their presents, both pulling out lilac envelopes at the same time. Ginny looked up, confused. "What..." she began to ask Harry.

"Just read it," he smiled at her, leaning over to kiss the side of her head. I looked away sharply. Would it ever stop being weird seeing my best mate with my baby sister?

Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances before opening the envelopes and pulling out the cards. "This gift certificate entitles you to spend an entire day at the 'Enchanting Tranquillity' spa for witches and wizards. You are welcome to enjoy any treatments and activities up to the value of 30 galleons." Hermione read out loud. "Ron! 30 galleons?" she repeated, sounding stunned and a little concerned.

I shrugged, feeling my skin heating up. "I've been saving," I answered feebly. "'Sides...you're worth it," I mumbled, hoping the other two wouldn't hear me.

"But, why a spa day?" Ginny wrinkled her nose whilst shoving her voucher back into the envelope.

"We just, we thought it might be a nice change. It's a new place, just opened. Joyce at work was on about it." Harry was stumbling his way through an explanation, looking a little hurt that Ginny didn't seem thrilled with his gift.

"We thought," I looked pointedly at Harry, taking over his bumbling, "that since you've both had a few hectic weeks with your own stresses and worries, that you might appreciate a day of being pampered and spoilt. You can really relax and have some fun, that's all." I shrugged, now unsure about the gift myself. It had sounded perfect a couple of weeks ago when I hadn't a clue what to get for my girlfriend, now I was realising this really wasn't Hermione or Ginny's kind of thing.

"Thank you Ron," Hermione leant in and kissed my lips softly. "I think it's a wonderful, thoughtful gift. And, we'll enjoy it, won't we Ginny?" She asked, fixing Ginny with a stare and flicking her eyes covertly towards Harry who looked upset by her lack of enthusiasm.

"Yeah," she mumbled, then caught Hermione's eye and saw the look on Harry's face. "Yeah, we will. I'm sure it will be a great day!" She gave Harry a big, beaming smile. "Thank you hon'." She threw her arms around him and kissed his lips.

"Right then," Hermione put her gift back in the box and carefully set it on the side table. "Shall we do Ron's present next?" She asked the other two once they parted. They both nodded and Harry left the room. I looked on confused, wondering where he was going.

"I'm afraid you're only getting the one present this year Ron," Hermione began to explain. "We all clubbed together, you see."

"But, I've been a good boy," I pretended to pout. Ginny shoved me until I almost fell off the sofa.

"Yeah, right!" she scoffed as Harry came back into the room with something hidden behind his back.

"Good idea to hide it in my room, he'd never think to look in there."

"Why did you need to hide it there? Why isn't it under the tree with the rest?" I was trying to peer behind his back, curiosity getting the best of me now.

"Because, mate," Harry began, "the shape would have instantly given it away." He explained as he pulled the long, thin package out from behind his back.

My eyes widened, knowing what it could only be. "You haven't?" I gasped, eagerly taking the package from Harry.

"We thought it was about time you had your own decent one." Harry laughed as he sat back down with Ginny.

"That, and I was tired of you leaving those Quidditch magazines everywhere, all open on the broom pages." Hermione chuckled.

I grinned at them all, before tearing into the paper to reveal a brand new, top of the range broom – the Rapido 2000. I stroked the smooth chestnut handle reverently as I pulled it free of the paper. "Wow!" I gasped, feeling it vibrate in my hand already – the power felt incredible and I was dying to try it out. "Thanks guys." I looked up at them all, a little stunned still, I hadn't been expecting this. "I can't believe...I've never had, thanks." I sighed, unable to say what I really wanted to. Instead, I got up and, with broom still in hand, I gave both Harry and Ginny big one armed hugs. And then, Hermione, I swooped her into my arms, broom and all, holding her tight and giving her a long snog – she'd more than deserved it.

Much to Ginny's disgust. "Please, put her down! I do not need to see that!" she whined, holding her hand over her eyes.

I laughed and sat back beside Hermione, holding the broom on my lap, gazing at it fondly, unable to believe it was all mine – every last twig was mine and brand new! How was I going to resist trying it out all day?

"Er-herm," Harry cleared his throat. "Have you forgotten someone?" he asked, rather sulkily.

"Aaw," Ginny reached over and ruffled his already messy black hair. "Is my ickle Hawwy poo's feeling all left out?" she teased before reaching under the tree. "Here you go, honey bun." She presented him with his package as he appeared to try not to grimace.

"Honey bun?" I mouthed to Hermione, who gave me a smirk in return.

Harry tore into his present and pulled out a tight fitting, dark green Holyhead Harpies T-shirt with fluted sleeves from their new season range. "Oh..." he muttered. "Erm...that's great. Thanks." He smiled at his girlfriend, holding the article up to his chest.

"That will go lovely with your eyes, honey bun!" I mocked him.

Harry gave me the finger before returning his attention to Ginny. "I'll erm, wear it with pride," he told her, earnestly.

Ginny began to laugh then, holding her sides and rocking backwards. "Oh Harry, bless you." She kissed his cheek and took the T-shirt out of his hands. "That was just a joke, it's the new female range. Here's your real present." She handed another smaller box to him. "This is something we can both enjoy," she winked.

"Erm, should we leave the room?" I asked, dreading what he was going to reveal. I SO didn't need images of my baby sister in that lacy underwear stuff or anything.

Ginny slapped me as Harry pulled out a piece of parchment from an envelope and looked up, bemused. Ginny giggled. "I thought we could take advantage of the fact we both have some time off and go away for a long weekend. So, I booked us a hotel room," she explained. "Just you and me. Alone." She beamed at him.

"Does Mum know about this?" I asked, wide eyed. How would she ever agree in allowing her 18 year old daughter go off on a dirty weekend with her boyfriend?

"Yes. She knows all about it Ronald!" She rolled her eyes. "Mum also understands I'm not a child any more and quite responsible, thank you. Unlike someone!" She gave me that look, the one that could rival Mum's when I was in trouble.

"Fine," I held my hands up. "Just so I know I don't have to cover for you."

"This means we get the flat to ourselves for a few nights," Hermione whispered to me as Harry and Ginny were pouring over the details of their little trip.

"Oh, yeah." I grinned, leaning back and stretching my arm along the back of the sofa, suddenly feeling much happier about the whole idea now. Hermione smiled and snuggled in next to me.

Over the next few minutes, we opened the last of our gifts – just little things, taking turns to open one each, despite the warning of my only getting one present this year, Hermione had also bought me a box of my favourite sweets from Honeydukes, a broom polishing kit – that I couldn't wait to get out. And she'd even knitted me an orange scarf. Thankfully her knitting had improved from the days of the woolly bladders at school!

"Oh, that's nice Ron. Here," Ginny tossed me the discarded ladies Harpies T-shirt, "those will match lovely!" she laughed. My sister could be a right pain in the arse you know!

Once the paper was all cleaned up and my broom was carefully placed in pride of place across my bed out of harms way, the four of us got dressed and then began to prepare dinner between us. It was a rather fun affair really – all of us singing off key carols in the kitchen, each taking our own task and trying to remember all the tips and advice Mum had been dishing out all day yesterday.

By the time we sat down to our meal, a little later than planned at 2.30 that afternoon, the chicken was rather dry. My stuffing had come out too watery. Harry had managed to burn the roast potatoes. Ginny completely forgot to even cook the Yorkshire pudding batter she had mixed and the gravy Hermione had made was rather thin. But, it was mostly edible and it was our own first effort, so no one really minded too much.

The meal was a lively, joyful affair, complete with crackers and party hats, telling jokes and just glad to be together with my friends. By the time we'd eaten and banished all the dirty pots to the kitchen sink to take care of themselves, we were all uncomfortably full and sat around the lounge, rubbing our stomachs and grumbling about how much we'd eaten.

Not that that stopped me from fetching my new broom from my bedroom and inspecting it further. I was eager to try it out - it was taunting me just sitting there. That was the one bad thing about living in the middle of Diagon Alley – might be handy for getting to the shops and things, but there was no where to go for a broomstick ride or an impromptu game of Quidditch with friends. I sighed, gazing at my broom, longing for the day I had my own place with plenty of land away from the prying eyes of Muggles so I could fly any time I wanted.

Harry caught me gazing at it, now laying on the coffee table and chuckled. "How about we head over to The Burrow tomorrow and have a fly?" He suggested.

"Yeah!" I sat up from laying on the sofa with my head in Hermione's lap. "We could toss the quaffle about or something?" I agreed, eagerly.

Harry grinned and nodded. "Might even convince George to play with us."

"And Charlie if he's still home." I added, cheering up some that I would finally get to try out my new broomstick tomorrow. I'd just have to be patient. I sighed again, more contently this time and lay my head back in Hermione's lap. She resumed her scratching of my scalp, just above my ear, almost making me purr. Sometimes, I was convinced she got me confused with her damn cat! Not that I was complaining when I was receiving this kind of attention though.

We barely noticed the sun disappearing or the hours passing by as we spent a lazy, enjoyable afternoon reminiscing over past Christmas' and early school days. Laughing at some memories and cringing at others. We played a rather rowdy game of exploding snap and even a silly, giggly game of gobstones that none of us took seriously.

"Anyone fancy a drink?" Hermione asked, standing and stretching her arms above her head.

"I'll come with you," I decided, stumbling off the sofa. "Could do with a snack." I muttered.

"How can you possibly eat anything else?" Harry grumbled, rubbing his stomach. "I'm still too full from lunch."

"You know my brother has the stomach of a bottomless pit." Ginny sighed, lolling against Harry's legs as she sat between them on the floor.

"Sod off Gin!"

"What's this?" Hermione asked before Ginny could respond.

"What?" I asked, peering over her shoulder. Hermione was holding an envelope addressed to her that I'd left on the shelf unit behind the sofa. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. That arrived for you on Christmas Eve, after you'd already left for your parents. Figured it was just another Christmas card." I shrugged.

"Oh," Hermione set it down on the coffee table to open later. "I thought I had received cards from everyone I sent one too." She mused, casting her eyes over all the cards adorning the shelf and mantelpiece – since most of them were addressed to the both of us, she'd left most of the cards here. She sighed and wandered through to the kitchen with a little frown on her face. I followed her, still intent on finding a snack. A piece of Mum's Christmas cake would go down well right now.

Before she even had chance to reach up to the cupboard for glasses, my arms were around her waist. She chuckled once, placed her hands over mine and then turned in the circle of my arms.

"What do you want?" she smirked at me, running her hands up and down my arms.

I just shrugged, returning her smirk as my hands dropped to rest on her hips. She laughed again and loosely threaded her hands at the back of my neck, fingers raking through my hair as she reached up on her tiptoes. I lowered my head so our lips could meet and our bodies became pressed against one another. The kiss was full of all the pent up love and passion I had for this incredible woman as our tongues moved together, just the way I had been dying to do to her all afternoon.

"Having a nice day?" I asked as we parted, stroking a finger down her cheek.

"Yes," she replied, flushing and curled her hands around my neck. "It's nice to relax with friends for a change." She smiled up at me.

"Thank you for my broom. It's my best present, ever," I whispered, placing another kiss on her nose.

"You're welcome," she giggled.

"I intend to show you later just how much that means to me." I waggled my eyebrows suggestively, making her laugh and swat my shoulder with her hand. "You, erm...you do like your present, right?" I wondered out loud, feeling the need for reassurance.

"Yes," she replied, giving me that perfect smile again, the one reserved only for me.

"I mean," I continued as though she hadn't answered, "I know you're not really into all that girly stuff, I forgot – sorry. I can probably exchange it if you want?" I looked up, my eyes meeting hers.

"Ron," she began, holding both my shoulders in her hands and fixing her eyes on mine. "I may not go all dreamy eyed over the latest Wizard of the moment in Witch Weekly, or take at least three hours to do my hair and make-up every day, but I am, as you once helpfully pointed out, still a girl. And sometimes doing, what you refer to as 'girly things', is needed. Right now, a day of being pampered sounds like exactly what I need." She finished with a little contented sigh and relaxed back into my arms.

"Honestly?" I asked, brushing her unruly hair out of my face.

"Yes," she squeezed her arms around me. "You should watch out though," she looked up at me, "I might just get used to it!" she giggled and delivered another light peck to my lips before wiggling free of my embrace and returned to getting us all drinks.

I followed her back into the lounge moments later where she was levitating a tray of glasses and bottles of Butterbeer ahead of her, whilst I bit into a slice of Mum's Christmas cake - no one could ever beat her cake. Hermione set the tray down on the coffee table, breaking up a snogging session between my sister and stupid best mate. Ginny gave us a sheepish grin whilst Harry ran his hands through his totally dishevelled hair and gazed up at the ceiling as he adjusted his glasses.

"Help yourself," Hermione told them, pushing the tray forwards as she reached for the envelope she had left there.

I sat down as she slid her finger under the flap and pulled the card out. And then dropped the last bite of my cake when she gave a sudden gasp. Ginny almost spilled the Butterbeer looking up at her sharply. A piece of parchment Hermione had been holding fluttered to the ground as we all watched it's slow fall.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to swallow my mouthful of food, watching the colour drain from my girlfriend's face where she stood stock still, looking stunned.

"Not a Christmas card," she muttered, shaking her head slowly.

I shared a concerned glance with Harry before swooping down and snatching up the parchment Hermione had dropped and read it to myself.

'You'd better watch your back, bitch! I am going to get you and I will take what doesn't belong to you!'

The letter wasn't hand written, it had been typed. "What the BLOODY HELL!" I yelled, handing the letter to Harry, who had been trying to read over my shoulder, whilst I reached for the envelope. I flipped it back and forth, looking for any clue as to who may have sent it or where it had come from. There was nothing defining on the front – the same font used to write our address and there were no other marks. The stationary appeared to be the same standard set everyone bought in Diagon Alley.

Harry set the letter down on the table and took a look at the envelope too. "Why would someone send you something like...that?" He glanced at Hermione, waving his hand towards the offensive letter on the table.

Hermione was silent, staring straight ahead and heaved a huge, shaky sigh. I felt like a shit boyfriend then – I'd been too worried about the letter and not how she might feel about it. Obviously it was going to unnerve her at the least. "Hey," I wrapped an arm around her, tugging her in close and kissing the top of her head. "It's okay. It's probably just..."

"Bloody horrible, that's what it is!" Ginny cut in. "What kind of sick git does that?" she asked, tossing the letter back down furiously.

"Ron, you said the letter arrived Christmas Eve, do you remember how it was delivered or anything?" Harry asked, going into detective mode and pacing the living room carpet.

I thought about it whilst rubbing Hermione's back who hadn't uttered a word. Probably shocked, I thought – can't say I blamed her. "Actually," I cocked my head to the side as I remembered something. "It was a bit weird. Hermione had just left to stay with her parents for Christmas eve. I'd nipped to the bathroom and heard a tapping at the window. When I came back, there was that envelope lodged against the window pane. I just figured it was an impatient owl...you know they're much busier this time of year." I shrugged, wishing I'd taken more notice of it now.

"Hmm..." Harry hummed to himself, picking up the letter again as though we might have missed something obvious.

"It's probably just some weirdo." Ginny gave her opinion, kneeling by the coffee table to pour us all a drink. "I mean, we've all encountered them since the war ended. Just last month I had a letter from some nutter telling me I was a home wrecker because Harry was her fiance!" She laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, but why the bloody hell would some dickhead send my girlfriend something like that at Christmas? That's just bloody spiteful!" I spat.

"Do you think it's anything to worry about?" Harry asked me. "I mean, Ginny does have a point – we've all had weird letters since the media went to town on us. And not everyone is going to love us!" He gave a rather sober chuckle.

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as my other hand remained on Hermione's back. "Do you think we should give it to the investigation squad at work?" I asked his opinion.

Harry shrugged, putting the letter back into the envelope. "Might be worth while. They might be able to detect some residual magic on it or something and give us some clue as to where it came from and if we need to be concerned."

"It's probably just from some jealous nut job who has the hots for Ron!" Ginny laughed. "I mean, not that I think you're a nut job Hermione, but..." she attempted to recover herself, "well, you are dating my brother!" She laughed, trying to get a reaction from her. Hermione barely seemed to be listening though, she still hadn't spoken and truthfully that was starting to worry me more than the letter right now.

"Hermione, love?" I asked her quietly, rubbing her shoulder again.

"Well, I suggest dropping it into work tomorrow. Get someone to look at it, just to be safe." Harry decided, folding his arms as he sat back down in the armchair and Ginny climbed up to perch beside him on the arm, leaning against him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I will." I nodded in agreement. "I want to know what git thinks this is funny. No one is bloody threatening my girlfriend, and..."

"Oh honestly!" Hermione stood up rather abruptly, snatched the letter from the table and tore it in half before tossing it into the fire without ceremony.

"Hermione! That was evidence!" I shrieked, reaching for the letter even though I knew it was too late as the edges curled into black ash.

"It's just rubbish," she turned to face us all. "For goodness sake!" She practically stomped her foot. "I am not letting some stupid, pathetic, immature letter ruin the great day we've been having! So, all of you just forget about it!" And with that she strode off to the bathroom.

"Think she's all right?" Harry asked, glancing towards the bathroom door after she slammed it behind her.

"Yeah, sure she'll be fine." I replied, not sure whether I believed myself to be honest. "And she has a point, it is just a stupid letter, silly to let it ruin today." I gave them a bright smile that I wasn't feeling myself. I wouldn't admit it out loud yet, but I was worried.

Hermione came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, giving us all a big smile that only I knew was for show. We tried to enjoy the rest of the evening, Ginny put the radio on and we listened to the end of a friendly Quidditch match, followed by a live gig from the Weird Sister's. We drank the Butterbeer that had sat neglected on the table and tried to forget about the letter incident. But, it was hardly the jolly, relaxing atmosphere we'd been enjoying earlier – it felt strained and forced now. Which was probably why as soon as the crowd applauded the Weird Sister's final song, we turned the radio off and mutually decided it was time for bed.

When I came back from the bathroom, Hermione was just sat on the bed where I had left her. She was staring into space and was still fully dressed – not having made any effort to get ready for bed yet. I knew, despite her act this evening, that she was dwelling over that damn letter. She tried to pretend she wasn't bothered by it, that it was just someones idea of a cruel joke. But, I knew her much better these days – I was familiar with a lot more of her moods than I used to be.

"H'mione, you getting ready for bed, love?" I asked gently, a hand lightly touching her shoulder.

She startled briefly and then looked up at me. "Oh, yes. I suppose." She replied, giving me a smile.

I kissed her forehead before she slowly wandered towards the dresser. I turned my back to drop my towel, hanging it on the peg on the back of the door and pulled a pair of boxer shorts and a T-shirt on. Hermione was still standing by the dresser, looking at herself in the mirror. She was lost again.

"Hey," I stepped behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissed the side of her neck. "You can't fool me love, I know you're bothered by that letter really." I rested my chin on her shoulder, looking at our reflections together in the mirror.

She sighed, her eyes catching mine in the mirror. "I know it's silly, but..."

"It's not silly." I turned her in my arms. "I mean, it was cruel and threatening and you have every right to be upset about it. Maybe I _should_ mention it to someone at work or something?" I suggested. She nodded and I noticed her watery eyes, fighting back tears. I lifted her chin and softly kissed her lips. "Don't worry, love. I won't let anything happen to you. I'd die protecting you." I promised, holding her tight as she lay her head against my chest and I ran my hands over her hair.

After a few moments, she lifted her head and met my eyes for just a second, before she fixed her hand to the back of my neck and pulled my head down, kissing me fiercely - demanding and passionate all at the same time. "Make me forget about it Ron..." she begged breathlessly, her hands roaming my body. "Make love to me and make me forget." She asked, pushing her own clothes off.

"You're sure?" I asked, even though my body was already responding to her demands. I knew she was feeling a little vulnerable right now and even though I might be still a bit of a prat and slow about some things when it came to women, I would never force myself on anyone nor take advantage of them.

"Yes. I need you. Please?" She whimpered, looking up at me, eyes so pleading and loving.

I kissed her then, crushing my lips against hers. "Whatever my love needs." I smiled, before scooping her into my arms and stalking over to the bed.

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 _Reviews are love...show me some, please?!_

 _More soon..._


	8. Chapter 8

_I know, I haven't replied to people yet for their reviews, I am being lazy and I apologize! Please know that I really appreciate every reader who takes the time to leave me a comment (even if you don't always like parts of it) I know leaving a review isn't always easy to find the words, so I am grateful when you do._

 _And now I shall leave you to read...and hopefully review...and I shall try my best to get back to you and stop getting distracted (good news for you, it is usually writing I am distracted with :p)_

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

"Ron, do you have any intention of getting dressed at all today?" Hermione asked, glancing up from the book she was reading. I knew it had been a mistake to have also bought her a book for Christmas. Now I'd barely get a conversation out of her until she'd read it from cover to cover, twice!

"Why bother?" I shrugged, wandering over to where she sat, curled up in the corner of the sofa. I was wearing nothing but a pair of Cannon orange underpants. "After all, there's only you and I here," I grinned as I sat down heavily next to her, making her bounce in place. "Unless you're saying you find the sight of me half naked too much of a distraction?" I smirked. "Because you know, if you did, I wouldn't blame you for acting out on any...desires," I whispered, nuzzling her neck with my nose.

"Ron!" she giggled and pushed me away. "I'm reading. And all I was going to say..."

"Is that my body repulses you?" I asked, pouting and acting as though she'd physically wounded me, holding my hand over my heart.

She rolled her eyes and set her book down for a moment. "You know that's not true," she kissed me softly, "but, what if your mum were to pop over, or remember your brother is only downstairs, he might come up for something."

"George never comes up here any more," I shrugged, remembering why was a sudden stab to the chest. "Besides, he's too busy with his hordes of early sales shoppers! Look, we have the place to ourselves for three whole days, I say we make the most of it!" I stood and, ceremoniously, I shoved my underpants down past my knees, kicking them off at the ankle and standing before Hermione completely naked with my hands on my hips.

It didn't have quite the effect I was going for. She laughed. She actually laughed at me! "You look utterly ridiculous!" She told me, picking her book up again, as though I was boring her. How could she ignore me when I was stood here naked, in all my glory? Honestly – women!

And right then, as if on cue or because Hermione had secretly planned it, there was a frantic knock at the door. I squeaked and ran for the bedroom as she just laughed at me again and got up to answer it.

"Hey," I heard George greet her from where I was listening at the bedroom door. Why did he have to prove me wrong today of all days? "Sorry to interrupt, but, erm...is my brother around?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's in the bedroom," she chuckled.

"Ron! Mate, I really need you!" he called. He might have braved coming up the stairs for the first time in a long time, but it didn't look as though he was up to actually stepping inside the flat just yet. "The shop is heaving and Verity is sick. Please Ron."

"I'm on holiday!" I yelled back, peering around the door, yanking my towelling dressing gown off the back of it.

"But, it's mad down there and I can't cope on my own. Please Ron, I'll pay you overtime!" He begged.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before starting your New Years sales early?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I appeared with my dressing gown now covering my nudity.

"Little brother," George sighed as though he was explaining something to a simpleton, "now is the time to strike! Kids have Christmas galleons they need to spend before school starts again. I have to cash in on their fortune. Oh, come on Ron? Just for a few hours? Please?"

"Ron..." Hermione started and I knew she was feeling sorry for him.

"But, we were busy and..." I began a feeble protest.

"Yes," George smirked, gazing at something on the floor. "I can see that!" he laughed, looking up at Hermione and flashing his eyebrows suggestively. My eyes widened when I realised what he'd noticed - the underwear I had playfully kicked off minutes ago.

"Oh no, we weren't, we were, I mean...Hermione was reading!" I rambled a sentence and groaned at myself. "Just, we have the place to ourselves for a few days, and..."

"Making the most of it, aren't you?" he smirked.

Hermione looked up at me, then down at the underwear and blushed, knowing what George was assuming, despite our activities before he'd come up here being totally innocent. Even if I had been trying to convince my girlfriend to make the most of our freedom and break a few more of Harry's silly house rules. "We weren't doing anything!" I folded my arms across my chest as I added the word 'yet' in my head.

George looked doubtful. "Well, anyway, I really do need you Ron. I wouldn't ask, but it's chaos. Hermione could come and help too?" he offered. "I'll pay you both."

"We could go and help him for a few hours Ron?" Hermione suggested. "It won't hurt."

"Eurgh! Fine!" I gave in, throwing my arms in the air. "But you owe me!" I warned him. "Just give me a couple of minutes."

"Great! Thanks!" He beamed and raced back downstairs to the sounds of loud shrieks, laughter, explosions and the buzz of conversation.

"And you," I poked Hermione before heading back to the bedroom to get dressed, "you'll owe me too!" I winked.

"I'll try to make it worth your while." She pulled me into her arms, ensnaring me in a passion filled kiss, her body pressed tight against mine, the kind of kiss that threatened to make me lose my mind and leave my brother waiting another hour for any help. And he would have been, had she not pulled away moments later. "That's just a small teaser of what's to come later," she smirked and went to find her shoes.

Minutes later and it was quite obvious that George had been slightly deceptive about how busy the shop really was. It was quite honestly pandemonium! Kids, probably high on sugar, were running riot everywhere - getting under everyone's feet and knocking things over. Parents chased after them or were hastily stripping the shelves bare of all on sale products. Someone had managed to upturn one of the Pygmy Puff crates, the creatures now scurrying around people's ankles, emitting high pitched squeals. And a half dozen or so boxes of Fanged frizbees had been unleashed, probably by some of those unruly kids, causing everyone to duck occasionally as they zoomed around the shop.

The place was heaving with customers – everyone from young families with those kids to grown adults, teenagers and grandparents alike all having to squeeze past one another to look at shelves, shouting over each other to be heard. Amongst the crowd I noticed a rather odd character in a heavy black cloak, the hood pulled low over their face. I tried to keep my eye on them because they seemed to be skulking about and acting rather suspicious. Whenever they found themselves too close to me, they hurried in the opposite direction, casting furtive glances back at me from time to time.

I looked over at Hermione, swamped at the cash register and shared a tight grimace with her. Already I knew she was regretting talking me into this as people pushed and shoved for their turn and hurled items at her. George was busy on the shop floor, overseeing the excitable kids, welcoming customers, helping out with enquiries and keeping an eye on prospective thieves. I made an effort to get close enough to warn him about the odd cloak person, but I could barely move.

George has set me the task of trying keep the shelves stocked. A never ending job as by the time I'd re-filled something, it was stripped bare within moments. Anyone would think witches and wizards had never seen a sale before the way everyone was behaving.

"Hey!" Someone poked me in the back. "You got any more Skiving Snackboxes? The shelf is empty." I turned to find two young wizards, Hogwarts age by the look of them, and neither one seemed bothered by the fact they'd almost made me fall from the ladder I was perched on.

"Excuse me, I was here first!" A haughty, twenty something witch elbowed the lads out of the way. "I am in need of more of that daydream charm, and someone just took the last one."

"Skiving snackboxes?" The boys demanded again, nudging in front of the woman and threatening to unbalance not only me this time, but the entire shelf behind them.

"Okay, okay, hold on!" I held my hands up and climbed down quickly. "Just give me a minute and I'll go check in the back," I muttered, scooping up two stray Pygmy Puffs on my way and going to dump them back in their crate. "Busy you said?" I scowled at George who was leading a small family towards his Muggle magic tricks. "This is bloody mental George!"

"Oh, little brother," he patted my shoulder, smiling good naturedly. "This is business. Come on, this way, I have a really good range, just got some new stock in." He waved the eager family forward, leaving me scowling at his back. He looked back and gave me a smug smirk over his shoulder. I gave him the finger and stomped off into the back room looking for the items people had asked me for.

I heaved a deep breath back there, it was somewhat quieter and certainly less crowded, giving me a moment to catch my breath. Okay, now what was I looking for? I scoured the shelves, trying to remember. And that was when I heard a high pitched scream – a scream I had heard before and never wanted to again. My blood ran cold and my heart pounded as I dropped the boxes I had just picked up and raced back into the shop.

A crowd had gathered around the cash register and George was busy trying to get past people, asking them politely to step aside. I didn't care so much, shoving past people to get to my girlfriend. Hermione was standing there, looking rather stunned and holding her hand to her chest. Blood was seeping through her fingers and staining her blouse as everyone peered at her – all morbidly curious.

"Hermione!" I yelped, pushing the last person out of my way and finally reaching her side. "What happened?" I cradled her and gently touched her injured hand whilst scanning her for any further damage.

"The...the till. It. It bit me!" She stared at it, sounding rather dazed. I was worried she was going into shock.

"Bit you?" I asked, thinking that maybe she had caught her finger in it when closing it – it was currently being used at a rather rapid pace after all.

"Yes, look!" She nodded her head towards it, not wanting to move her hand. I followed her gaze and saw what she meant. The money drawer of the cash register had developed fangs. And not just a pair of them, many pairs surrounded the whole drawer - sharp, menacing teeth that were even now snapping and snarling with Hermione's blood dripping off them.

"They… the teeth just suddenly appeared," she whispered, her voice too quiet for my liking.

"But how?" I asked, confused. I looked towards George who had finally joined us after dealing with the crowd. "Is this your idea of some bloody joke?" I accused him, jumping to conclusions.

"No! Of course not. You think I'm gonna set things to attack the staff or hinder taking payment?" He rolled his eyes. "Someone must have tampered with it," he added, looking at the till closely, running his hand carefully down the side of the machine, avoiding the sharp fangs.

"Then what the bloody hell happened?" I looked around. "Did you see anything, love?" I asked her. Her face looked pale and I really needed to get her upstairs so I could sit her down and see to her hand.

She slowly shook her head. "I was serving a customer, trying to be chatty, but they merely grunted at me. So, I just rang their things up, took the money and when I went to get the change, it just...bit me. They, whoever they were, ran off before I even gave them their change," she explained, slumping against me now.

"Did anyone see anything?" George asked his customers who were all craning their necks trying to get a look.

"I did!" Someone called from the back. "They had a huge cloak on, big heavy hood pulled low. Almost knocked me down running out of here when I heard the lass scream."

"That sounds like the person I was serving," Hermione told me. "I couldn't see their face."

"Look!" Another voice shouted and pointed to the window. "Is that them?"

I looked up towards where the kids were pointing outside towards the same figure I had seen skulking about the shop in the cloak earlier – the one I had meant to warn George about. So, that's what they had been up to – plotting to cause bloody mayhem and injure my girlfriend. The second they noticed us all peering out the window, they took off, racing down the street with the long cloak trailing behind them. For just a second our eyes met and I thought there was something familiar about them, but it was so fleeting I wasn't sure. It was probably just because I had noticed them hanging around earlier.

"George?" I asked him somewhat urgently.

"I'm on it!" He yelled and people actually parted for him to race past.

"Come on, let's get you upstairs and take a look at this." I pulled Hermione gently towards me, urging people to move. I knew I was leaving the shop open and unattended, but Hermione was my only concern right now, not a few possible shop lifters. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if George had anti-theft enchantments guarding the shop.

"Here, sit down," I instructed her, pushing her into a chair at the kitchen table and then hurried around the room grabbing needed items to treat the wounds. "Let me see," I gently pulled her hand towards me and using a clean cloth, dipped it into the bowl of warm water and wiped away some of the blood. She had probably half a dozen bites all over her hands and up her wrists, some bleeding more than others. "How did it get you so many times?" I asked, wrapping her hand in a clean towel after cleaning it and going to pour the stained water down the drain.

"I don't know," she slowly shook her head. "It all happened so fast – it was like it was ravenous or something. I think it was actually after the money, but my hand got in the way.

I returned with a bowl full of murtlap essence. "Here, put your hand in here for a bit, whilst I find the dittany," I told her, heading to the bathroom to look for the little bottle. "Unless, do you think you need to go to St Mungo's?" I paused and looked back at her. "I mean, we don't know if the bite is poisonous or if that idiot did something else to it or..."

"I think I'll be fine," she gave me a brave smile. "This is helping right now," she swirled her hand in the bowl. "It's stinging less already."

"Good," I nodded and resumed my search for the bottle.

Ten minutes later, I had her hand dried, dittany had been applied which had started to heal the wounds and I had wrapped it in a bandage. I was just making her a cup of tea when George came to find us in the flat.

"How is it?" he asked, grimacing when he saw Hermione's hand all bandaged up.

"I'll be okay." She offered him a smile.

"Did you catch them"? I asked hopefully, setting a mug of tea in front of Hermione.

George sighed and pulled out a chair at the table, running a hand through his hair. "No," he groaned. "I chased them as far as Knockturn alley. They paused to glance back and once they realised they were being chased, they Disapparated. Sorry."

I inhaled deeply and sat down beside my girlfriend, nursing a mug of tea of my own.

"I am really sorry Hermione. If I had thought anything could happen, I wouldn't..." he sighed and grasped a handful of his hair. "I've closed the shop for now." George went on to explain. "Got rid of everyone and shut up shop."

"Have you sorted out the bloody cash till?" I asked.

"I can't," he shrugged. "I tried a few spells on it, but it's still snapping and gnashing it's fangs. I don't know what they did to it. I mean, it would make an excellent burglar repellent, but...not so good for the shop if we can't take cash!" George shrugged. "I've locked it up in a crate for now. I'll have to research how to fix it or something." He groaned, knowing this was another hassle he didn't need. Truth was, it was only in the last few months that George had really enjoyed being back in the shop again, getting his mojo back and being excited about new products. As pissed off as I was that this had happened, I didn't want this to set him back. "I'm just glad you're okay though."

"It's a bit sore, but it will be fine. Ron looked after me." She gave him a reassuring smile.

"I wish I knew who that jerk was though and what they thought they were doing. I mean...what would they achieve?" George mused, getting up to help himself to a cup of tea from the full pot left on the side. I watched him as he moved effortlessly around the kitchen, vaguely noting that this was the first time George had been in the flat since he'd lived here with Fred.

"Other than hurting Hermione," I muttered. "Which may have been their main intention," I suddenly realised.

"Why would you think that?" George looked surprised. "I mean, why would anyone intentionally want to hurt Hermione? You lot are regarded as heroes or something."

I groaned and rubbed the back of my neck, noting the look my girlfriend was giving me. We hadn't told anyone else about that letter, she'd asked me not to, wanting to simply forget about it and insisted it was just a cruel joke. She didn't think it was worth worrying anyone about. But, I thought otherwise, I was starting to take the threat seriously.

"Hermione had this letter," I began.

"Ron, that was nothing!" Hermione cut in, whispering harshly.

"Oh really? And not three days later, this happens to you? There were loads of people in the shop, yet they targeted the one thing that would only injure you."

"What kind of letter?" George asked, sensing Hermione and I were about to get into a row.

"The threatening, anonymous kind," I sighed. "I called in at work and told the investigation squad about it. But, since she burnt it," I gave Hermione a look, "they said there's not much they can do without the actual letter to examine. Just told me to keep a close eye on things if it worried me and if anything else arrives to bring it to them and they'll look into it for me."

"Hmm..." George mused, rubbing the stubble on his chin. "That is weird though, isn't it? Why would anyone want to threaten you?" He looked at Hermione. "I mean, unless it's one of those dark pricks still on the run? But, surely they'd be more likely to go after you or Harry, since you're Aurors? Makes no sense."

"I know, which is why I think this is more personal," I nodded, glad that someone else was agreeing with me that it was strange.

"I told you Ron. It's just someone's idea of a joke. It was a stupid letter, probably from some jealous fan or something. Don't get so neurotic about everything." She rolled her eyes as she pushed her chair back, pausing to finish her tea.

"I wish you'd take it more seriously," I muttered. The whole thing troubled me, there was just this nagging feeling I couldn't let go of and I was scared someone was after her, yet I couldn't figure out who or why.

Hermione stood up and sighed. "You get suspicious of everything these days, must be something that Auror academy drummed into you. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to lie down for a bit."

"Okay," I reached up and kissed the side of her head. "Let me know if that gets worse," I nodded towards her hand and watched as she wandered off to our room. "I still reckon something is going on," I mumbled to George once she was out of earshot.

* * *

"So, how is your hand doing now?" Ginny asked, reaching for Hermione's hand across the kitchen table to study it.

Having just returned from their little break, my sister was sat chatting with Hermione whilst Harry had gone to check the post I'd told him had arrived in his absence.

"Oh, it's fine," Hermione rubbed it unconsciously. "Your mum gave me some lotion to put on it yesterday and it's helping. It's looking less pink already, right Ron?" she asked me.

"Oh, yeah. it's looking great," I replied, absently, having been locked in a staring battle with my girlfriends damn fuzzball of a cat who was peering around the door at me.

The cat in question had just moved into the flat a couple of days ago, Hermione begging me to take him in after she'd had a huge row with her parents over him. Apparently they were annoyed she was never home to take care of him herself since he was her responsibility and had suggested her cat may as well move in here, since she spent most of her time here. I can't say I had been thrilled at the idea. I mean, Crookshanks and I had never been best friends, we tolerated one another at best these days. But, one look at my girlfriend's pleading face and I had given in, saying we'd give it a trial run and see how we got on.

"Mum is great at throwing together those lotions," Ginny nodded. "Remember that one she used a lot when we were kids Ron? Especially when you got stung by those wasps? He fell on a nest!" Ginny whispered loudly to Hermione and she giggled.

I groaned, getting up to put the kettle back on for more tea. "I didn't fall, you pushed me!" I reminded her. "And it wasn't funny! I could barely sit down for a week." I winced as I rubbed my backside, remembering the incident as though it was yesterday, not about 14 years ago when I'd been around six.

"Well, anyway, Mum soon sorted him out once he dared tell her what was wrong," she continued. "He was too embarrassed to tell her his bum hurt!" She roared with laughter and I pulled a face at Hermione when I saw she was laughing right along with her. "I'm glad your hand is better though. I still can't believe something like that happened in the shop," she shook her head.

"It wasn't just some random act, Ginny. Hermione was targeted and..."

"Oh, Ron. Please don't go on about that again," Hermione sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"Why? Because it's so terrible that I'm concerned for your safety? Or that I think..."

"Harry!" she suddenly exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen, cutting me off. He looked up, rather startled, from reading one of his letters. "You're sure you don't mind Crookshanks moving in here, do you? My parents were fed up of the poor thing."

"What? Oh no," Harry looked down at the cat currently winding his way around his ankles. He gave Hermione a smile. "I'm sure he'll be good company. Better than that prat, anyway," he nodded towards myself.

"Yeah, thanks mate," I sniffed. "Same to you!" I gave him the finger, dropping it quickly when Hermione slapped my arm.

"I'll call in after work each day to take care of him and feed him, even the days I don't intend staying." She gave me a warning look that told me there might be more days she didn't stay if I didn't stop annoying her with what she called my absurd paranoia.

"Really, it's not a problem. He's a clever fella and it will really be good to have him around. I sort of miss having a pet," he sighed sadly. Harry still didn't have the heart to buy himself a new owl, after poor old Hedwig. Right now we both relied on Pig for delivering our post. Meaning the poor tiny sod was out delivering or hunting more than he was home.

"That's good. I'm sure he'll be happy here, amongst magical folk and that. I suggested to Ron that you put a flap on the door so he can come and go as he pleases. He'll enjoy hunting in the alley at night," she smiled, fussing her cat who had leapt up onto her lap, nudging her hand for some attention.

"Sounds good," Harry nodded, slightly distracted as he returned to his letter with a little sigh and rubbed his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked him.

"It's from Andromoda." He held the sheet of parchment in the air.

"Is Teddy all right?" she asked, worried.

"Oh, he's fine. She actually wants to know if we can have him next weekend."

"That's not a problem is it?" Ginny asked. "I don't have any matches on or anything then, so I can come with you," she volunteered. "You know I love that little boy."

Harry looked up, a slightly anxious expression on his face. "Actually, she wants us to have him all weekend, like overnight. She needs to visit on old friend who is sick, so doesn't want to take Teddy with her. I've never had him overnight before. Babysitting for a few hours is different than taking care of him all weekend!" He looked nervous about the idea as he ran his hand through his black hair, dishevelling it even more.

"Oh," Ginny looked to the two of us for support. "Well, I'm sure we can manage. Teddy loves us, he's comfortable around us and we know what we're doing now, so..."

"Why don't you invite him to stay here?" Hermione suggested. "That way the four of us can watch him. I'm sure between us we'll cope," she looked around at everyone.

"That's actually a good idea!" he nodded, beaming at the letter now. "It will be fun!" he decided.

I snorted, thinking it would be anything of the sort.

"You will enjoy it, Ron!" Hermione scowled at me.

"Hey, I love the little fella too. Just, pointing out that looking after a not quite two year old is probably going to be more work than actual fun!" I shrugged. "But, yeah, sure we'll cope," I nodded.

"Good." Harry put his letter down and poured himself some tea as he took a seat at the table with us. "I'll write her back in a bit. Is Pig out again?" he asked me.

"Nah, he's fast asleep in my room. Only just got back this morning and the poor little thing almost collapsed when he got in."

"Oh. Well I'll let him rest, he can take it when he wakes," he decided.

"Harry..." Ginny began gently and slid her hand over his. "Don't you think it's time you got another…"

"Not now Gin'!" He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, what were you talking about before I came in?" he asked, looking at us all, skilfully avoiding the painful subject of him getting a new owl.

Hermione groaned. "Oh don't. If the two of you are going to start your silly conspiracy theories again, Ginny and I are taking our tea into the lounge!" She stood up and made Crookshanks yowl in disgust at being disturbed.

"I guess I'm heading for the lounge," Ginny sighed, slowly getting up from the table and following Hermione.

Much later that night, just when I was heading to bed, I walked in my room only to find the blasted cat curled up on my pillow, fast asleep.

"Oi!" I shouted at him whilst using my wand to close the curtains and pick up my clothes that had missed the laundry hamper again. Crookshanks barely cracked an eyelid to peer at me before snuggling down again. "This is my bed, you mangy cat!" I grumbled, stepping towards my side of the bed and dropping my wand on the bedside table. I nudged him and he still didn't move. "My space, shift!" I poked the cat.

Crookshanks gave me a disgusted look, before standing up, arching his back and snuggling down once again. "Oh no you don't mate!" I picked him up and put him on the floor, before quickly crawling into bed. I received a glare from his beady little amber eyes before he flicked his tail and lightly hopped up onto the bed again, curling up in another space, defiantly.

"Right," I sighed, facing the cat. "Let's get a few things straight, you. I don't mind you moving in here, because it makes Hermione happy, and I like doing things that make her happy. But, let me inform you of a few house rules. First, this," I pointed to the sheets, "is my bed. No cats allowed! You can sleep anywhere you want, Harry's bed for all I care, but not mine! Secondly, no yacking up revolting hairballs on my bed or on any of my stuff actually." Crookshanks wasn't paying me the slightest bit of attention as he stretched out, paddling his paws against the fluffy blanket on my bed and contently purring to himself.

I sighed, knowing this was useless. But, I needed to set some boundaries, whether he took them in or not. "Thirdly, you use that litter tray or you go outside, I do not want to be standing in any nasty surprises in a morning! And speaking of that, I don't need to see your arse when you jump up next to me either. Oh, and no half dead critters brought into the flat. I don't care that Hermione says you think you're giving me a present – that's something I can live without, thanks! So, got it?" I asked the cat who had closed his eyes now and wasn't listening to a word I said.

I lay back in bed and absent-mindedly scratched his ears. "Like I said, you're only here because it makes Hermione happy. And, I suppose that's one thing you and I have in common, we both love that woman. So we're going to get along and make this arrangement work for her sake, all right?" I asked. Crookshanks opened one sleepy eye and seemed to give me this look that said 'fine, but I'm still sleeping here, loser!'

I rolled my eyes, realising that trying to keep him from my bed was probably a losing battle. "Just as stubborn as your mistress," I mumbled to myself, settling myself in bed. Reaching over for the latest Quidditch magazine, I caught sight of Hermione hovering in the doorway, stifling giggles behind her hand. "How long have you been there?" I asked. I hadn't heard her return from the bathroom.

She smiled, stepped inside and closed the door. "Long enough to hear 'the rules'." She used her fingers as quotation marks and chuckled to herself, climbing into bed beside me. "Your little chat was very sweet, but, well...he is a cat Ron. And cats pretty much do as they please."

"Yeah, I've noticed," I looked down where he was currently curled up, quite content and cosy in the middle of the bed.

"Look," she began as she snuggled closer to me, "if he didn't like you, he wouldn't even be in here. Cats will only sleep beside those they feel comfortable with and whom they like, so take it as a compliment. Besides, I know he's going to be a good boy, he promised," she assured me with a kiss to my cheek.

"Well, he'd better be," I muttered, before claiming her lips in a much deeper kiss and sliding closer to one another, much to the disgust of Crookshanks who gave a disgruntled meow before moving to the bottom of the bed, glaring at me again.

* * *

 _So...Ron is still concerned and wanting to do more to protect his girlfriend, Hermione is being her stubborn self about it all, despite being injured again and Ron has lost his bed to Crookshanks! What else can go wrong?! I'll let you know soon :)_

 _Reviews make the next chapter appear faster - honest - it's like magic or something! Ask any witch or wizard ;p_


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you for the reviews for the last chapter (and for all the faves and follows) Please know they make me smile whenever I get an email about any of them, even if reviews are my fave. I still haven't replied to feedback - I'm sorry, it's been a weird, emotional couple of weeks, but I promise to try to do better._

 _Haven't done for this for awhile, but **Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling (as if you haven't guessed!) and I do not own Harry Potter (sadly) I just enjoy playing with the characters she created for us.**_

 _And on with the story..._

 **Chapter 9**

Far too soon for my liking, it was back to getting up early for work again for the pair of us. The week off had sped by in a blur of family visits, dinners and parties - I hadn't accomplished half of what I had wanted to. Okay, mostly I had planned to spend as much time possible in bed, naked, with my equally naked girlfriend. We had managed some of that, but still. It was times like this I really mourned for the long school holidays.

We munched our way through a hurried, silent breakfast and then, through sleep addled brains, flooed in to work. Hermione and I walked hand in hand through the atrium to the lifts, with Harry trailing behind us and then I gave her a brief kiss when we parted as the lift reached her floor and promised to see her later.

Now, I was sat at my desk, yawning. It wasn't even lunch time yet and I was exhausted and also sick of paperwork already.

"How is it even possible that this much paperwork can occur when we've been off for a week?" I grumbled to Harry, tapping my quill against my nose in hope of inspiration.

"Dunno," he muttered back, scribbling on the rolls of parchment in front of him.

I sighed, rested my head in my hand, with my elbow on the table and read over what I had written already. My head drooped and I caught myself, waking with a jump. Damn! "I need coffee!" I decided, getting up and stretching. "Fancy a coffee?" I asked Harry.

"Mmm, great!" he nodded, not looking up.

I wandered off, scratching my chin where I hadn't had time to shave this morning and headed for the break room. I made the drinks slowly, wasting as much time in there as I could, then on exiting, spied Céleste just leaving Joyce's office. Oh bloody hell! I stopped, stumbled over my feet and wondered whether to backtrack or hide quickly, but she noticed me before I had chance to do either and I was left juggling the two mugs in the hallway.

"Ron!" she called excitedly, shifting an armful of folders onto her hip. At least I had found out why she always seemed to be up here – the law team up here often co-ordinated with legal proceedings in the creature department and it was one of her jobs to chase up documents or obtain signatures and collect evidence files.

"Hi," I smiled politely, holding up the two mugs as an indication that I couldn't stop.

"You ees very zhirsty, no?" She nodded towards the mugs as she giggled lightly, girlishly...the way I remembered Lavender doing so back in school and just as bloody annoying!

"Oh, ah, no. One's for Harry," I explained.

"You ees good friend," she gave me a big smile.

"Yeah, well, I'd best get this back to him." I gave her a brief smile and continued on my way.

"Did you 'ave nice Christmas?" she asked, falling into step beside me.

I rolled my eyes, realising I wasn't going to get rid of her so easily. "Yeah. Sure. It was great," I nodded.

"That ees good," she chirruped. "Nothing bad did happen?"

"What?" I stopped and frowned at her. "No...of course not, just a nice relaxing week off," I added, wondering why she would ask me something like that.

"Oh." She seemed surprised for a moment and then quickly plastered that wide grin back on her face. "I glad," she murmured softly, her hand on my arm, stroking her fingers back and forth. With two full mugs in my hands, I couldn't do much other than glare at her hand. She failed to notice I wasn't thrilled with her touch. "You should 'ave many good times, relaxing...with all you put up with." Her hand was now clasping my arm firmly as she took a step even closer to me.

"Erm, yeah, right," I tried to take a step away from her – she was getting too familiar and what had started out as a somewhat pleasant conversation had taken a turn into weirdville, yet again. It always did with her somehow.

"Eet be over soon. Then you be more 'appy," she nodded, as though she knew some secret I didn't.

Okay, what the bloody hell? I frowned at her, this time jerking my arm away and sloshing some of the coffee down myself. Not that I cared - spilled coffee had nothing on nutjob here! "What are you even..."

"Ah Ron!" she gasped, sounding very French all of a sudden. "You spill." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "I clean," she announced as she crouched down and proceeded to dab at the damp stain on my trousers.

"What the hell are you doing?" I jumped back from her, almost dropping both mugs in my haste. "Get off!" I told her, horrified. The coffee was, well...down my inner thigh and somehow she had began dabbing a bit higher than was needed.

"I, I sorry," she looked up at me with a pout and pathetic cow eyes. "I..."

"I have to go," I told her firmly and stormed off, leaving her crouched on the floor. I made a vow to myself not to get into any kind of conversation with her, ever again. That had all been just too strange and too suggestive for me – things had derailed from weirdville into psycho town right there. Even if her hand had just slipped, you didn't go touching people like that whom you barely knew!

I finally made my way back to my desk and thumped a mug down on Harry's desk before throwing myself back in my seat.

"Did you already drink half of my coffee?" Harry asked, peering inside his mug. I had managed to spill half of it in my haste to escape the mental person.

"Sorry, had a run in with the freaky Céleste." I inhaled deeply and rubbed my forehead tiredly, sensing a headache coming on.

"Uh oh. She still as bad?" he asked, drinking what was left.

"Worse!" I grumbled and snatched up my quill again not elaborating.

"Sorry mate," Harry sympathised.

I nodded and yawned again, downing my coffee before setting to work and hoping I was going to make it through the rest of today. Why was the first day back after a short break always the worst?

Much later, someone sat down rather heavily on my desk and heaved a huge sigh. I looked up nervously, almost expecting Céleste to be breathing down my neck or something - I'd tried to forget about the whole incident from earlier, because it made me so uncomfortable. Instead, I smiled when I saw who it was – the best sight I'd seen since this morning. "Hey, love," I reached up as she leaned over my desk to kiss me. "You finished already?" I asked, checking my watch.

It was very rare that Hermione finished work before me. She usually had something that she _just_ needed to finish or something last minute _just_ cropped up, So, I was often left waiting around for her or mostly I just went home alone, knowing that I would see her when I see her.

"Yes," she huffed, tidying things on my desk so that everything lay in straight lines. "I couldn't wait to get out of there today," she grumbled.

"That bad huh?" I sympathised with her. My day had been crap too.

"Just...awful," she flapped her hand, not wanting to elaborate right now. "Anyway, I don't know what kind of day you two have had, but do you fancy going to the Leaky before we head home? I could do with a drink and it would be nice not to have to cook or anything," she asked me and then glanced over to Harry who was still bent over his work.

"I'm in!" I closed the file I'd been working on and set the quill in it's stand – giving up on it easily. "Harry?" I looked over at him.

"Just need to finish this, mate," he replied, not looking up.

"Oh, come on. You've been at that for ages," I sighed and got up to see what he was working on. Quickly, he hid whatever he was writing under his hand and glared at me. "What are you doing?" I frowned, trying to see, struggling to move his arm as he tried to fight me off.

"Piss off Ron!" he hissed at me, slapping my hands out of the way and using his foot to push me back, keeping me at a distance.

"Boys!" Hermione began. "You're not in school anymore, you know. Grow up!"

"What are you trying to hide, huh?" I darted to the left and managed to snatch the piece of parchment he'd been scratching away on. I noticed the first words on the page, 'My dear Ginny, I miss you...' "Oh, bleurgh!" I pretended to be sick and tossed the sheet back at him. "You're writing love notes to my sister? Gross! She only bloody went back to training camp last night, how have you had time to miss her?" I asked.

"Because," Harry blushed and turned away from me, violence in his eyes as he hid the letter again. "Besides, you can't talk - I hear you complaining enough on the nights Hermione goes home to her parents. So, shut the hell up, you prat!"

"I think it's sweet," Hermione sighed. "You don't write me love notes any more," she lightly thumped the top of my arm.

"Ow!" I grumbled, rather dramatically, and rubbed my arm. "That's probably because I see you every day. It's not like when you were away at school."

"I don't have to be away for you to write me a love letter," she pouted.

"See what you did!" I pointed my hand at Harry. "You and your sappy love letters!" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Hermione pulled on my hand. "We'll head on over to the Leaky. Harry, join us when you're done being romantic. If you can stand being around this...buffoon!" she nudged me, playfully.

"Gee, thanks. I love you too!" I grumbled, though obediently following her.

"See you in a bit, Hermione," Harry called after us.

He finally turned up about 20 minutes later, grabbing himself a drink before finding a seat at the table we were sharing with Neville and Luna who we'd found in the pub when we arrived. We were all talking over one another, laughing and teasing Neville who kept staring at the new barmaid. Hannah, who had been a Hufflepuff in our year, had recently taken a job here and was receiving a lot of attention from the blokes.

"Why don't you just go speak to her?" Hermione suggested.

"Oh, I can't," he blushed as he shook his head and grabbed his pint off the table.

"Why ever not? It's obvious you like her and she's very sweet," she added.

Neville gulped some of his ale. "I know, but I can't talk to women," he admitted hurriedly.

Luna frowned and then looked down her very flowery and rather whispy blouse.

"What are you doing?" I laughed at her.

"Just checking," she looked at me puzzled, tilting her head to the side. "I thought Hermione and I were women?" she whispered loudly to me.

That cracked me up. "Oh, you are. Believe me, Hermione definitely is!" I grinned.

"Oh yes. You two have lots of sex now, don't you? Much less tension around, isn't there Harry?" she asked, calmly, as though commenting on the weather.

Hermione choked on her drink as I almost spilled mine in astonishment at her flippant comment. Neville was laughing at us both, glad the attention was taken off him for a bit.

"Luna, I..." I didn't know how to reply to that.

"Oh, it's okay," she patted my hand reassuringly. "No need to be embarrassed we're all grown ups now and we all knew it would happen eventually," she nodded, knowingly.

"I think I need to use the loo," Hermione excused herself, blushing rather furiously.

"Oh, I'll come with you," Luna decided, climbing over our seats. "I want to check I really am still a woman. Since Neville is talking to us, yet claims he can't speak to women, maybe we got changed somehow? You should check too Hermione – don't want to give Ron a nasty shock, do you?" she added, following Hermione who was trying to outrun her whilst glaring back at me as though this was all my fault.

I laughed, shaking my head. "Luna is always fabulous," I slapped the table. "Ah, great, food is here!" I sighed happily when I saw Hannah coming over with our order. "Oh, I hope it's okay, I ordered the usual for you Harry?" I asked him as Hannah reached our table.

"No, that's great, thanks," he nodded gratefully, unwrapping the napkin from around cutlery.

"Here you go lads," Hannah set the food down.

"Thanks Hannah!" I rubbed my hands together, suddenly starving as I shoved a chip in my mouth.

"Do you need anything else?" she asked whilst setting Hermione's meal in the empty space beside me.

"Oh, you got any tomato sauce?" I asked.

She nodded and grabbed a bottle from another table. "Is that all? Any more drinks or anything?" She seemed to be lingering and I thought I saw her glance at Neville a few times who had been staring into his beer, looking like a gnome that had been spun too fast.

"Talk to her now!" I heard Harry whisper and give Neville a hasty nudge. Sadly, all this did was cause Neville to slosh his drink all over himself and Hannah's robes, making her shriek in surprise.

"Argh! Oh Hannah!" He slammed his glass down sharply and began grabbing handfuls of napkins. "I am SO sorry. I...erm, can I, er...help?" he stammered, hands full of paper napkins hovering above her clothing. He was blushing furiously. Wow – he had something on the Weasley blush, did old Nev!

"It's okay Neville," she smiled at him, grabbing the cloth from her apron and wiping herself down and then the front of his robes. "Don't worry, working in here I'm getting used to wearing a few spilled drinks," she laughed, pleasantly.

"Oh, right. Well, could I buy you a drink? You know, just to apologise?" he offered very politely. Smooth git - I was actually impressed with his skills!

"Yes. That would be lovely," she grinned at him. "Thank you," she added.

"I'll leave you lads to eat," he smirked at us, getting up to follow Hannah back to the bar.

Hermione and Luna cast the pair a curious glance on their return, watching Hannah and Neville chatting as they walked back to the bar together. "How did that happen?" Hermione asked me, picking up her knife and fork and laying a napkin on her lap.

"Oh, he threw his drink on her. Honestly, if I had known that was all it took to get a girl, I might have got with you much sooner!" I joked. Hermione was not amused.

Luna on the other hand, found this hilarious and was rolling on the bench in fits of giggles. I laughed at her, shaking my head.

"So, Luna. Everything okay?" I asked once she settled down again. "Still all womanly and everything?"

"Oh yes. I'm fine. And you'll be pleased to know Hermione is too, so the pair of you will have no problem having sex tonight!" she patted my shoulder. "Think I'll go get another drink," she added and wandered away.

"Always brilliant," Harry muttered, smirking at the surprised expression on my face that I'm sure matched Hermione's opposite me.

We hung out at the Leaky for a couple more drinks after eating, before deciding we really should get home. We all had to be up for work in the morning after all and Hermione was starting to fret about feeding Crookshanks.

Leaving the pub, we wandered down the practically deserted Diagon Alley since all the shops were now closed. There were only a few other people like us, heading to their homes down here or leaving work. Turning down the side of Wheezes to use the stairs directly up to the flat, rather than having to go through the shop and any of George's boobie traps he often left for would be thieves, I noticed something at the top of the stairs, by the door.

"What's that?" I asked, peering up the stairs from the bottom.

"Looks like a dead animal or something," Harry replied, wiping his glasses and climbing a couple of steps.

"Damn it! I told you Crookshanks would be bringing half dead creatures home. Eurgh!" I pulled a face.

"And I told you, that he considers it a form of affection. It's like a present for you."

"Yeah, well, funnily enough dead animals have never been top of my wish list!" I shuddered at the thought.

"He thinks he's being generous sharing his catch with you. You're supposed to praise him."

"What for? Killing something and dumping it on the doorstep for me to clean up? Lovely!"

"Unless Crookshanks has started leaving gift tags on his presents, I don't think he did this," Harry added, rather ominously. Whilst Hermione and I had bickered about her cat, he'd jogged up to the top of the stairs and was crouched beside whatever it was.

"Why? What is it?" I asked, a little worried now.

Harry sighed and reached towards it. "Just a bird, but this," he levitated something with his wand, not wanting to touch it, "was speared through it's body with a broken quill."

"Do we want to know?" Hermione asked, the pair of us slowly making our way upstairs to join him.

Harry shook his head slowly. "Probably not. Sorry," he added when she snatched the levitating item from the air.

I looked over her shoulder to see a note scribbled on the back of a piece of card torn from some Wheezes packaging, obviously scavenged from the bin - it was now spattered in the bird's blood. ' _I warned you bitch! Back off!_ ' the note read.

"Oh, bloody fantastic!" I groaned, an arm unconsciously curling around Hermione's waist protectively. "Another psycho note."

"Come on," Harry was glancing around hastily as he unlocked the door, "let's get inside." he ushered us in quickly.

"Now will you take this seriously?" I asked Hermione as Harry nipped back out to take care of the body.

"Why? It's just someone's sick idea of a joke."

"Just a joke? That's rather sinister, don't you think?"

"I am not letting some...some crazy person scare me," she insisted and went to throw the note in the bin.

"No! That's evidence. Give it here!" I snatched it from her, along with the shards of the quill that Harry had saved, which had probably been used to write the note, and slid them into an envelope. "I'm taking these into work tomorrow. At least someone should take it seriously, even if you won't."

Hermione huffed, gave me that intense look and then turned on her heal to wash her hands as Crookshanks slunk out of wherever he'd been hiding and began rubbing himself against her ankles. "Hello sweetheart," she bent to tickle his chin. "I bet you're hungry, let's get your dinner," she rambled on to her cat, ignoring me blatantly.

"Hermione, I think we need to talk about this!" I waved the envelope in the air, before putting it on the side and washing my own hands.

I caught her rolling her eyes as she went to the cupboard for the cat's food and began dishing some out for him. "Talk about what? That there are some insane, cruel people in the world? We know that, remember Voldemort?"

"Of course I bloody do!" I snapped as Harry came back inside and went to wash his hands. "And I also remember that the prick still has followers out there in hiding and we're on their most wanted list!" I knew my voice was getting a little high pitched in my panic, but I was really worried here. Dead animals on your doorstep was never a good sign.

She sighed, rubbed Crookshank's head as she set his bowl down and wandered through to the lounge. "And why would any of them be after me? You're the Auror out there chasing them all down. I just deal with elves, merpeople and other creatures."

"Well, if you can't figure it out, then you're not as smart as I thought you were! You're my girlfriend Hermione, you're...important to me, like my family. It would make sense for them to try and hurt someone I care about to get at me. Maybe you're an easier target, maybe they think hurting you kills two birds with one stone, I don't know. But we need to take this seriously, be cautious and keep you safe."

"I think you're over reacting," she sighed and sat calmly on the couch, leaning towards the coffee table to grab a book she'd left there.

"I agree with Ron," Harry spoke up, standing in the doorway. Hermione turned to glare at him too. "Sorry," he shrugged, "but I do. I mean, what he said makes sense. And, even if we're wrong about this, it can't hurt to be a bit more careful? Can it?" he asked, sensibly.

"That's all I'm asking Hermione, please?" I took a seat beside her and pulled her into my arms, even though she was reluctant about it. "I just want you safe. I can't lose you. You mean too much," I murmured.

She inhaled deeply and slowly shook her head. "Fine. Do what you need to, but I am not being held prisoner here or anything. I can't live my life in fear of someone coming after me all the time. I though we were done with all that."

"I know love, but, thank you," I kissed her temple. "Well, first I'm taking that envelope in to work tomorrow, I'll get analysis division to look into it. And, I think it would be safer if you stayed here rather than going back to your parents until this is over, we have the wards on the flat for added protection here. And, I don't want you leaving work without me or going anywhere alone, okay? Safety in numbers."

"Sure, whatever," she gave me a brief smile, before struggling from my hold. "I'm going to take a shower, okay?"

"Do you think she's okay?" Harry asked after she'd closed the bathroom door.

I sank low into the chair and groaned loudly as I covered my face with my hands. "Not sure," I mumbled. "I mean, you know Hermione - never likes to admit she's afraid of anything. But, if she's given in to my requests, then maybe she's shaken up more than she's letting on."

"Do you really think we need to be on guard? Is someone after us again?" Harry was pacing.

"I honestly don't know mate, but you know as well as I do what utter arseholes are still out there. And, it can't hurt to be vigilant, can it? Remember Moody's words."

"Constant vigilance," we repeated together, thinking of the old guy fondly.

"Strange, he never really was our professor, yet his teachings still rubbed off on us," I commented with a slight shoulder shrug.

Harry smiled and nodded. "Oh!" he suddenly gasped, "Do you think it's safe to bring Teddy here this weekend? I mean, if someone is out for us, are we putting him in danger?"

I thought about it for a second. "Nah. I mean, like I said, we have the wards on this place, no one can get in unless we let them in. Plus, there will be two fully trained Aurors and two qualified witches here, not to mention the experience we all have. Remember, we did survive old snake face!" I reminded him. "They should be scared of us. So, I'm sure we can protect a little kid just fine."

"Well, I hope so. His grandmother is dropping him off on Saturday morning," he mused and we lapsed into our own thoughts. "Tea?" he then asked after a few minutes of silence had lapsed between us.

"Yeah, thanks mate," I commented, my gaze straying to the bathroom where I heard the shower still running. "I'll be back in a moment," I added, getting up and heading for the bathroom. I wanted to check on Hermione, knowing, even thought she was trying to hide it, that she had to be upset about this. She put on a good front, just as she had after the last letter, but, finding a dead bird on your doorstep with an ominous note attached was just horrid for anyone.

A waft of heavily scented steam greeted me when I crept inside the bathroom and took a seat on the closed toilet seat. "Hermione..." I began. "Are you all right?" I asked, trying to be gentle and calm about it.

It took a few minutes for her to answer. "Fine," eventually came a strangled reply from behind the shower curtain.

"You're sure? I mean, it's okay to be freaked out or something, that note _was_ bloody creepy!"

The shower turned off and a hand appeared to grab a towel from the rail. "I said I'm fine," she muttered, a little tersely, as she pulled the curtain back and stepped from the shower. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get dry in private?" she asked, tucking the towel in around herself, hair dripping down her back.

"Yeah, sure." I got up off the toilet, realising she wanted to be alone. "Harry's making tea. Want one?" I turned to ask before I left the room.

"Please," she nodded and bit her lip. "Ron..." she began a couple of second later.

"Yeah?" I turned, my hand hovering over the doorknob.

"Thank you," she gave me a brief little smile.

"For?" I wondered, puzzled.

She dipped her head and gave a little sigh before looking up at me again. "For caring about me...and looking-"

Before she could finish her sentence, I wrapped my arms around her, holding her in an embrace. She relaxed into it, letting her body sag against me, soggy towel, wet hair and all, not that I cared. I knew she needed this, that just for a moment she wanted to forget about everything and enjoy being held. It felt good to know what she needed without having to ask her.

Hermione took a deep breath, let it out and then pulled away from me, looking up into my face, a small smile gracing her lips. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Any time, love. You know that." I softly touched my lips against hers.

"I needed that," she admitted, her fingers pulling on a loose thread on the towel. "Ron, how are we going to stop this? I just want things back to normal," she sighed, hitching her towel up slightly.

I laughed at that. "Has anything ever been normal for us?" I raised one eyebrow.

"Well, no," she gave me a wry grin. "But, I had thought things were settling down now. That we could just enjoy being young for a bit and not have to worry about crazy people after us all the time."

I leant forward and kissed her lips again, giving her a chuck under the chin with my thumb. "Sshh, we will sort this, love. I promise. We'll find whoever is behind this and stop them, and then we get back to our brand of normal, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed on a whisper and allowed herself to fall into my embrace for a moment. I couldn't help it, my hand unconsciously began to rub up and down her back, aware there was nothing but this towel between me and her naked body. "Ron..." she pulled away and placed a hand on my chest to push me back. I gave her an impish grin as she shook her head. "Now shoo!" She waved me away playfully. "Let me get dried and dressed."

I grinned, knowing now wasn't the right time for a saucy comment, but my mind thinking it all the same. "I'll go see if Harry has finished the tea," I told her, giving her a reassuring smile and left the bathroom, glad that I had been able to get her to admit how she really felt and comfort her a bit.

And, I had meant what I'd told her – I was going to track down whoever was behind this and stop them if it was the last thing I did. I planned on making it my priority at work right now. Nothing was more important than the safety of those I loved.

* * *

 _I know some of you have questioned why Ron isn't more suspicious of Celeste - basically because he deals with the real bad guys on a daily basis now and whilst she annoys him, makes him uncomfortable and he think she's rather...strange, she's not on par with the criminals he has to deal with. Is there a connection, is it Celeste or one of the death eaters they're still tracking? Who knows? Erm, well I suppose I should, since I wrote this :p You'll find out soon._

 _Also been asked why Hermione isn't more concerned about the things going on, although she is starting to listen to Ron and Harry now, but I just think after what they've lived through, she didn't want to believe someone was after them, again. So, she fooled herself into thinking Ron was simply over reacting, it was just a horrid joke or a jealous fan or something._

 _So, reviews would be loved :) And next chapter I promise you loads of humor (well, I had fun writing it anyway!)_

 _See you soon..._


	10. Chapter 10

_Yikes! I was hoping to post this almost a week ago and I was half way through editing, when I got sick and felt too lousy to think straight, let alone edit or write for a few days! Sorry about that, am feeling a bit better now, so I have managed to get the editing done._

 _I shall be honest and say that this chapter offers nothing to the plot. It was simply an idea that amused me and refused to leave me alone until it was written...so here it is for your reading pleasure. Hope you like it._

 _ **Disclaimer:** As always, I am not JK Rowling (if I was, someone else might have done the washing up, cooked my food and looked after my cats when I'm feeling ill!) and I am just playing with her characters._

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

That Saturday morning, Mrs Tonks brought Teddy over to our flat far too early for my liking. He arrived in a complete whirlwind of excited energy and dragging bags and bags full of his belongings along with him. I thought he was only staying the one night?

"I'm afraid he's a little over excited at the idea of staying with his Uncle Harry," I heard her explain as I stumbled half asleep from my room. Teddy was zooming up and down the hallway, making strange little noises as he went, until he ran right into my legs.

"Steady on, buddy." I lifted him up.

"Won Won!" he exclaimed excitedly and clapped his hands together.

"Ssh!" I whispered to him. "Don't let Aunty Hermione hear you say that, she doesn't like that name," I grimaced, having no fondness for it myself either. The child in my arms just laughed at me.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" His Grandma asked after giving Harry a list of instructions and glancing over at her grandson. "I could ask Molly..."

"We'll be fine," he assured her. "There's four of us here, so I'm sure we can cope," he smiled and patted her shoulder. "You get off and see to your friend, don't worry about us. We're going to have fun, aren't we Teddy?" he looked towards the little boy currently struggling to get out of my arms.

"Fun!" he nodded as I put him down and he charged off again, having spied Crookshanks and chased him under the table.

"Right, well..." Mrs Tonks looked wary, unsure whether this was a good idea or not. "You have the address if you need me? Just floo immediately. Or apparate or..."

"Stop worrying, everything is going to be fine. We're going to have a great weekend!" Harry beamed, somehow sure of that fact. I begged to differ and I'm pretty sure poor Crookshanks, who was now hissing from beneath the sofa, agreed with me as well.

She said goodbye to her grandson then, making him promise to be a good boy for Uncle Harry and everyone and after reminding Harry to floo her with any problems, she left us to it. Teddy stood watching the fireplace for a moment, curious as to where his Grandma had gone. But, when Harry clapped his hands and called him over, he quite happily flew across the room into his arms with a loud squeal.

"Oh, is he here already?" Ginny asked, yawning as she exited Harry's room, tying her hair up. She'd just got in late last night from what she said had been a gruelling week of training after the Christmas holidays. "Hey Tedster!" She ruffled his hair as she called him some dumb nickname – shouldn't be too surprised after Pigwidgeon really, should I? Perhaps, if her and Harry ever had kids together someday, I should make sure Harry named them!

Ginny was sat on the arm of the sofa now, tickling the little boy who was sat on his Uncle's lap. I was sat in my favourite armchair, trying, not very successfully, not to fall back to sleep. Weekends were made for sleeping in, in my opinion! Hermione appeared from the bathroom shortly after and made a beeline for the kid as well.

"Teddy, look how big you're getting!" she exclaimed, taking a seat beside Harry and smoothing Teddy's hair back. "You're so adorable," she grinned at him whilst Teddy giggled, lapping up all the attention he was receiving. "So, what's the plan for today? What are we going to do with him?" she asked, looking around at all of us.

Everyone returned her stare, a little confused. "Do with him?" Harry asked, cuddling the kid in a protective manner, misunderstanding her meaning.

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "You know, what are your plans for keeping a two year old entertained? He's going to get bored just sitting around all day, and then you'll have trouble."

"Oh..." Harry muttered and from the look on his face it was obvious he hadn't even thought of any such plans. "Well, we could...take him down to the shop? That might entertain him for a bit? And then we could...look around other shops in the alley?" he suggested uselessly.

Hermione sighed. "Children have a very short attention span and would get bored shopping very easily. Besides, the shop downstairs is a disaster area for a two year old – far too many dangers and things he can get into."

"Spoil sport!" I muttered under my breath. Honestly, when I was a kid, something like George's shop would have provided me with hours of bliss. What kid wouldn't enjoy all those tricks and toys?

"How about we take him over to The Burrow?" Ginny suggested. "We could take him flying. Would you like that, kiddo?" she asked him.

"Me fy!" he exclaimed, sticking his arms out again and making that noise again. "Me airpane!" he giggled, wriggling off Harry's lap and trotting around the room again, imitating Muggle aeroplanes he must have seen in the sky – they probably fascinated him just as much as they did my Dad!

"Yeah, but if we go to your parents, Molly will fuss over him and take over. I wanted to watch him here, to prove to Andromoda that I can do it," Harry protested.

"Fine, no flying then." Ginny sighed regretfully. You'd think she'd had enough time on a broom in the last week!

"What did you like to do at his age?" Hermione asked Harry.

He shrugged. "Dunno, I was usually shoved in a cupboard, wasn't I?" he mumbled sadly.

"Oh, yes," Hermione uttered and looked around at the two of us in utter dismay whilst Ginny gave Harry a reassuring rub of his shoulder and murmured something to him. "Well, how about the Muggle park?" she suggested more brightly, changing the subject. "He might enjoy playing on the swings and slides? He can run around and burn off some energy and..."

"And what if he does something in front of the Muggles?" I reminded her. "Changes his hair bright green again or something?"

"We'll put a hat on him!" she told me, as though that was obvious.

I rolled my eyes and got up, bored with the conversation and, as my stomach rumbled, realising I was in need of breakfast.

"Besides it's cold out," Harry pointed out. "What if he catches a cold or..."

"You don't actually catch a cold from being cold." Hermione huffed. "Colds are caused by a variety of virus' and in actual fact, colder temperatures have been known to kill off the virus. Therefore, he'd be in no increased danger of catching anything by playing outside."

"Then why do people get more colds in the winter?" Ginny asked, rather smugly. I wanted to laugh in her face – when Hermione got into one of her factual rants, you never, ever contradicted her – you would never win!

"Because some of the virus' that cause the common cold are seasonal. And people spend more time indoors, closer in proximity to infected people. Not to mention the lower humidity causing an increase in viral transmission rates and..."

"All right, we get the idea," Harry interrupted her, holding up his hand with a roll of his eyes.

I left them arguing over it as I headed for the kitchen. "Besides, we would only go for an hour or two. He might enjoy it." I heard Hermione add as I put the kettle on before rummaging in the cupboards for something to eat. Finding one lone cauldron cake left, I opened it up and shoved it in my mouth whilst hunting for something else. I really wanted some cereal, then remembered I'd finished the box the day before, and we were out of bread for toast as well. Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil so we could at least have a cup of tea, I found a few various sweets – fudge flies and ice mice, which I nibbled on.

Until I felt something tug at my pyjama trousers and I jumped, thinking I had been caught in the act by Hermione. She was always on at me about the number of sweets I ate being unhealthy, but she didn't know about this secret stash in the top cupboard – I was the only one who could reach up there after all. I looked down to find little Teddy peering up at me.

"Me have?" he asked, pleadingly, his eyes somehow getting bigger.

"Ah, mate..." I began, rubbing the back of my neck and shutting the cupboard. "I shouldn't even be eating them, so I'm sure you shouldn't. Your aunt Hermione will kill me!" I muttered.

"Pease Won Won?" he begged me. "Me have?" He held his little hand out.

I inhaled deeply, cringing at the use of that name again. No doubt Harry or Ginny had taught him that, thinking it hilarious, and the damn thing had stuck. I took in the little kids pleading face before I gave in. "Okay," I handed him an ice mice and a handful of fudge flies, sitting him down at the kitchen table with them. "But don't you dare tell your Aunt Hermione!" I whispered to him.

"No Miney!" he giggled and shook his head whilst shoving the chocolate into his mouth.

I filled the teapot with boiling water, and then managed to find an unopened packet of Pixi Puffs that had got shoved to the back of the cupboard. Result! I filled myself a large bowlful, poured a cup of tea and sat opposite Teddy to eat my breakfast. He grinned back at me as he chewed on the ice mice, giggling as it squeaked against the few teeth he had.

"Have you put the kettle...Ron!" Hermione shrieked upon finding us in the kitchen. "Whatever are you feeding him?"

The pair of us looked up at her sharply, both wearing the same guilty expression. "What?" I asked through a mouthful of cereal.

"What is he eating?" she demanded, hurrying to his side.

"Won Won 'weeties!" Teddy grinned, showing her the last fudge fly before cramming it into his already full mouth that was drooling chocolate. I can't believe the little git grassed me up!

"Teddy!" I hissed. He just grinned a very chocolatey grin at me.

"Oh, honestly!" Hermione sighed as she went to grab a wet cloth to wipe his hands and face. "You can't go giving a child his age loads of sweets."

"S'alright," I shrugged. "Not like we have to worry about dentists and stuff," I mumbled to myself, repeating the same argument I used whenever she went on at me.

"It's not just his teeth or his health, he's not even two Ron. This much sugar, he'll be high as a broom in no time." She shook her head as she got him clean. "Honestly!" she muttered again in that tone she used whenever I did or said something she found exasperating.

Within about 20 minutes I understood what Hermione meant – Teddy was just short of bouncing off the walls, giddy and excited. He was currently jumping up and down on Harry's bed, laughing hysterically whilst singing some annoying kids song that must be all the rage on the WWN kids hour right now. And that was after he'd already ran, screaming at the top of his lungs, throughout the entire flat, finding it utterly hilarious that we were all trying to catch him and settle him down. This was just one big game to him and he had four willing contestants.

I think we all decided at the same time that Hermione's suggestion of a run around the park was a good idea. Hoping that whilst having some fun and keeping him entertained for a bit, he'd also burn off some energy. So, we bundled him up in his jacket, scarf, gloves and the much needed hat, wrapped ourselves up and disapparated out to a secluded area of the nearest family friendly park.

In the end, I think the four of us had just as much fun, if not more, than Teddy did playing in the snow. A significant snowfall was rather rare in the city. We built a snowman between us all, though Teddy lost interest after awhile and instead ran about and rolled around in the snow – so Hermione showed him how to make snow angels the way she she had as a child. He loved that and made us all do them, dragging us down into the snow. And then, when Harry pelted me with a snowball right in the face, Teddy almost collapsed in a fit of the giggles, as though he'd never seen anything funnier than someone getting snow in the face! Obviously, that resulted in my getting revenge on Harry before a full scale snowball fight escalated.

By the time we returned to the flat we were all rather cold and soggy, sporting bright rosy cheeks and were starving. Ginny began to heat up some soup for lunch to warm us up, whilst Harry changed Teddy into some dry, warm clothes.

"No like it," Teddy turned his nose up, folded his arms and tried to push his bowl away that Ginny placed before him.

"It's nice. Try it," Ginny told him, patting him on the head.

"No!" he replied and his hair began to turn a shade of dark purple. This was something I had noted he did when he was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Usually, when he was happy and content it was turquoise. If he was sad, it turned brown. When he was lying, it was yellow. But purple was a sign of trouble.

"Come on mate," Harry sat down beside him and scooped up a spoonful, blowing on it. "It's your favourite, tomato. Grandma says you like tomato," he offered the spoon to his mouth, trying to feed him.

"Nuh uh!" he shook his head and clamped his mouth shut, turning his face away from the spoon stubbornly.

"Look," I sat down and pulled my bowl towards myself, "Ron's going to eat his," I told him, shovelling spoonfuls into my mouth. "It's good," I nodded, grabbing a slice of the crusty bread to go with it.

"All the grown ups are going to eat it." Hermione joined in and began eating hers.

"Yacky!" he shrieked.

Ginny sighed, "come on sweetie, it will warm your tummy up after all that snow," she tried using persuasion on him. "Uncle Harry likes it, don't you?"

"Yep. it's my favourite," he grinned, spooning some into his mouth. "Mmm," he hummed and rubbed his belly.

We all began humming over our food, trying to encourage the kid to eat and acting as though it was the most delicious thing we'd ever tasted. But, it did no good and I realised we all just looked and sounded stupid as he watched us all curiously.

"Oh well," I sighed, getting up with my empty bowl to put in the sink. "It's a shame Teddy didn't eat his lunch, because then he can't have pudding and I think we have some nice chocolate chip cookies that Aunty Molly made." I acted nonchalant as I found the tin they were in. "Oh and there are just enough left for all of us to have one each as well. What a shame," I shook my head sadly, whilst taking a cookie out and biting into it.

"Me want cookie!" he shouted, reaching for one.

"Then you have to eat your soup first," Ginny told him firmly, pushing the bowl back towards him.

"Cookie!" he sulked.

"Soup first and then cookie," she pointed out patiently.

He sat and sulked for a moment as he thought about it, eyeing me warily as though he thought I might eat them all myself. And then, with a huge sigh for such a little boy, he grabbed his spoon and began messily feeding himself.

"Good boy," Harry grinned at him, ruffling his hair that was slowly turning back to his favoured bright turquoise at the tips.

"That," Hermione whispered as she stepped up beside me, "was pure bribery and you know it!"

I shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?" I raised one eyebrow. She merely rolled her eyes at me and set the dishes to wash themselves by magic.

Once we'd finally gotten him through lunch, Harry tried to convince him that a nap would be a good idea. Teddy was having none of it. Instead of lying down in Harry's room as instructed, he spied Crookshanks coming out of hiding from under his bed.

"Kitty!" he shrieked with glee, pointing after the alarmed cat.

"No, nap time." Harry tried to push him back down on his bed.

"Kitty!" Teddy demanded and scampered off the bed, running out of the room after the cat. Crookshanks darted under the sofa, but Teddy just got down on his hands and knees, crawling along the floor until he had him cornered. We all heard the cat growling from beneath the furniture.

"Teddy, Crookshanks doesn't like that. He's getting scared," Hermione calmly told him. "If you come and sit nicely with me, maybe he'll come and sit with us."

"Come kitty!" Teddy was sticking his hand under the sofa, his tongue hanging out as he grappled around for him. I think we all knew when he made contact with the poor cat – I think the whole street heard the loud yowl from the beast as Teddy yanked on his tail.

"Teddy, that's bad!" Hermione told him off, trying to protect her cat who was hissing and spitting from beneath the sofa where she was trying to coax him out of. "You hurt the poor kitty," she explained as we all tried to distract Teddy with something else.

"Me want kitty!" Teddy got upset then and screamed, pouting and throwing a little tantrum. "Kitty!" he looked up at his uncle plaintively, as though expecting him to give him what he wanted.

"The kitty doesn't like being pulled about Ted. Come play with me instead," he opened the kids bag and pulled out some of his toys. "Look at all these fun things!" he added, trying to sound excited as a model broom took off.

"No!" Teddy stamped his foot, snatched the broom out of the air and threw it across the lounge at the same time as a flash of sparks and a bang startled us all. Quite suddenly, Crookshanks, who had been crawling out towards his mistress under the promise of some fish, suddenly shot out from under the sofa with the loudest yowl I'd ever heard.

It was a few seconds before anyone noticed the cats' tail was missing. Crookshanks, seeming to sense that something was wrong, was spinning in circles in search of his own tail. Teddy was in howls of laughter and, I confess, I had to fight back the giggles as well. Until I received one of Hermione's death glares.

"Wha...what happened?" Ginny asked, her mouth hanging open as Hermione tried to catch her traumatised cat and comfort him. "He didn't..." she looked at Harry horrified as he was trying to calm Teddy.

"No, he didn't pull it off or anything, I don't think he's actually hurt him," Harry grunted whilst trying to hold onto the little boy. "I think..." he huffed, "Teddy had a burst of uncontrollable magic and somehow made the cats tail invisible or disappear...or something." he shrugged, shooting Hermione an apologetic look.

"Aaw, come on my poor baby," Hermione murmured softly to her cat, ignoring my offerings of help. "You come with mummy and we'll sort you out," she kissed him behind the ears and carried the shivering, terrified cat into my room.

"Well, this is going well, isn't it?" I asked, slightly amused. Harry and Ginny turned and glared at me as Hermione shouted something not very pleasant from the bedroom.

Hermione wasn't known as the brightest witch of her age for nothing and she soon had the cats tail resolved and calmed her pet down again. Leaving him in peace in my room, she charmed the door on her way out so as only those of us of age could enter and explained that it had simply been temporarily vanished and Crookshanks, though obviously distressed, was none the worse for wear.

She went off to find him a treat, whilst Harry and Ginny sat Teddy on the sofa and tried to explain to him why what he'd done was wrong and how he could have really hurt the cat or himself.

Over the next few hours it became clear to me that Hermione was right and entertaining a toddler was not easy. Teddy had a worse attention span than I'd had in any of Professor Binns lessons. We'd been through all the toys and books from his bag. Hermione sat and read to him, which lasted all of ten minutes before he was bored and wanted to be off again. We got out some quills and coloured ink and let him scribble on rolls of parchment – which kept him busy slightly longer, especially when I joined in and drew amusing little cartoons for him that I charmed to move. That little spell actually impressed Hermione too.

But, he was soon bored again and looking for mischief. I found I was developing a new respect for my own Mum. This looking after a child wasn't easy – it was taking the four of us just to cope. How the bloody hell had she coped with seven of us at home all under the age of 11 until Bill went to school? Not to mention she was all by herself most of the time!

In the end, having run out of ideas and being rather desperate, Ginny and Harry took him down to George's shop, hoping there might be something not too dangerous that might distract him or at least entertain him for longer than ten minutes. I can't say I wasn't glad for the break either. Hermione even sat down on the sofa with a long tired sigh and pulled out a book. I snuggled in next to her with the newspaper I hadn't even had time to open yet today.

Apparently, although Teddy had gazed in wonder at all the brightly coloured packages and flashing, spinning items on display, the one thing that completely stole his attention was a crate of Pygmy Puffs. He stood watching them for ages, giggling at their antics and babbling away to them, refusing to move as he clutched on to the cage. In the end. George had taken the three of them into the back and showed a delighted Teddy even more of the creatures. He'd spent a happy hour or more down there, rolling around the floor with them, letting them climb all over him and giving them cuddles. And he'd been in howls of laughter when one of them stuck it's long, thin tongue up his nose – giggling hysterically and begging Uncle Harry to make it do it again! I'd forgotten that was one reason they were so popular with kids! Harry said it was the happiest he'd seen him all day and it wasn't until the critters fell asleep that they'd managed to convince him to leave them.

Bedtime was another matter entirely. Bath time had been quite fun – at least for the kid. Apparently soaking your Godfather with water and bubbles was another thing that was hilarious. But, when it came time to settle him into what was to be his bed for the night (an armchair transfigured into a child size bed, courtesy of Hermione) the real battle began.

We had tears, tantrums, plaintive little cries for his Grandma and everything in-between. We tried bribing him, reading to him, laying with him – nothing worked. Honestly, I was all for giving the kid a sleeping potion just so we could all get some sleep too! A suggestion that had earned me glares from everyone and a derisive snort of disgust from my girlfriend. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, he did nod off whilst sucking on his bottle of milk – probably simply from exhaustion at the fuss he had created.

And, once he was finally fast asleep, the four 'so-called' adults in the flat also slipped off to bed. Where we had no trouble whatsoever falling into a deep, dreamless sleep ourselves.

I was awoken the following morning by a high pitched scream, raised voices and then Ginny barging into my bedroom with a loud crash that made Crookshanks leap up from where he'd been happily curled up on the bottom of my bed. "Is Teddy in here?" she asked, looking around before getting on her hands and knees to search under the bed.

"Wha'?" I asked, bleary eyed as I peered over Hermione's head, finding a shock of bushy brown hair in the way from where she lay nestled against my chest. The fact that she was snuggled up to me, in her usual position, made me smile. Even though she'd seemed rather annoyed with me last night, apparently she hadn't been able to resist unconsciously gravitating towards me in her sleep.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. I only managed to give her a yawn in response.

Ginny popped up from the floor, heading towards my wardrobe to check in there. "Teddy, he's not in bed. And he's, well…you'll have to see for yourself," she sighed, slamming the wardrobe closed again and strutting out of my room, leaving the door wide open.

Hermione looked over at me and we both raised our eyebrows at one another before climbing out of bed to see what all the fuss was about. Yawning and stumbling into the lounge, I paused for a moment at the sight that met me, trying to work out what it was I was seeing. I rubbed my eyes again, but it was still there and then my mouth fell open as realisation dawned on me.

"That little..." Hermione slapped me, "beast!" I finished in a hiss.

Somehow, during the night, the kid had gotten hold of those coloured inks we'd been drawing with yesterday. I was sure I'd put them away, up high out of his reach in the kitchen. But, spying a chair pulled up towards the counter that had now toppled over, told me that hadn't been much of a problem for Teddy. He had managed to spread four pots of different coloured ink all over the living room. And I mean all over – every inch was covered – the walls, the carpet, the sofa – everything dripping in globs of red, green, blue and orange.

"How the bloody hell did..."

"Never mind that!" Harry snapped, coming out of the bathroom. "Teddy is missing! Can't find him anywhere!" He was raking his fingers through his messy black hair, grasping at handfuls of it in panic.

"You've searched the entire flat?" Hermione asked.

"Yes! Twice already!" Harry replied, as though that was a stupid question. "He's just...gone!"

"Teddy!" Ginny called, heading back into my room to look again. I kind of hoped she wasn't going to look too closely at some things haphazardly shoved under the bed, if you know what I mean! What? I was still a healthy teenage boy with hormones and...natural curiosity!

"What if… what if he got out the cat flap?" Hermione suggested, trying to be helpful.

"Can't have," Harry sighed, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "With everything else going on, Ron put extra protection on it. No one but Crookshanks can come or go through it."

"Oh, I didn't know you did that," she regarded me with a look close to that of admiration.

I shrugged. Still the tone of surprise? Really?

"Oh fuck!" Harry then cursed as Ginny appeared from my room again, shaking her head with a worried expression on her face. I hoped that was through her concern for Teddy and not what she may have found under there. "What if...if..." he stammered and looked afraid as Ginny came and slipped an arm around him. "What if whoever has been targeting Hermione. What if they took Teddy?" he gulped.

"Oh my!" Hermione gasped, her hand to her mouth.

"But, they couldn't, could they?" Ginny asked with a frown. "I mean, I thought no one but the four of us can get in here uninvited"

Harry turned, his arms out wide. "Then where is he? Oh, Andromada is going to kill me! She'll hex me and then kill me!"

"We'll find him, love. Don't worry." Ginny was rubbing his back, speaking softly to him.

I turned to glance around the room again, glaring at all the dripping ink everywhere and scowled when I saw it even covered my latest copy of Quidditch Monthly I hadn't had chance to read yet. And that was when I noticed the door leading down into the shop wasn't closed properly.

"Hey, guys..." I tried to get their attention. But they were too busy comforting Harry and coming up with a plan, Hermione suggesting various location spells they could use. "Everyone..." I called again.

"Let me grab my wand!" Hermione was saying and darting back to my room

"We'll have him back in no time, you'll see," Ginny promised Harry.

"Oi!" I shouted, when no one was listening to me.

The three of them paused and turned to look at me accusingly, seemingly annoyed that I had interrupted what they considered to be a very important discussion.

"Has anyone checked downstairs?" I asked, nodding my head towards the door.

They followed my gaze and gasped. In a sudden flurry of activity the four of us were thundering downstairs, almost tripping over one another in our haste to reach the quite, idle shop closed for Sunday. There, we split up, running up and down aisles, around displays and checking behind boxes in a desperate search for the young lad.

I rounded the corner of an aisle and glanced at the crate of sleeping pygmy puffs – a pile of pink, purple and...wait! Turquoise? When had George added a new colour? I stepped towards them, taking a closer look and sighed in relief. "Found him!" I yelled to the others, yet hoping I didn't wake the child in question.

"Where is he? Is he okay? Is he upset? Has anything happened?" Harry came sprinting towards me, barking out question after question. Once he reached my side, he looked around hastily, not seeing him at first.

"There," I pointed towards the crate. Teddy lay curled up, fast asleep in the crate alongside the little critters, completely oblivious to the drama he had caused. The animals lay snuggled up to him or on top of him – all snoring quite contently.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" Harry gasped, his hand to his chest as Hermione and Ginny joined us.

"Aaw, look at him," Ginny sighed, resting her head on Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah, look at the innocent little git, giving us all a heart attack!" I snorted. Hermione rolled her eyes at me.

"Seems he is really taken with animals," Hermione added, watching one snuffling closer to the sleeping boy.

"Well, at least I know what to buy him for his birthday," Harry shrugged.

"Should we wake him or leave him here or..."Ginny began to ask. But at that moment, Teddy stirred and looked up at all of us peering down at him, puzzled.

"Hi Unca Hawwy!" he grinned.

"Hi yourself buddy!" Harry laughed at the kid, seemingly having forgotten the panic his Godson had just caused us all. "What you doing down here, huh?" he asked.

Teddy looked around himself curiously and spied all the balls of pink and purple fluff snuggled with him. "Pups!" he giggled and tickled one who lapped up the fuss. "Ted s'eep with pups!" he grinned at all of us.

"I see that. Though, next time you want to see them, maybe ask one of us first, okay?" Harry reached into the crate and lifted the little boy out, into his arms. "Now, how about we go get some breakfast? Then we can come back and give the puffs their breakfast?" He suggested, tickling the little boy as he made his way upstairs with him, Ginny fussing over the pair of them.

"Knew he'd be fine," I muttered to Hermione as we followed after them. She fixed me with this piercing stare before rolling her eyes at me and stomping up the stairs ahead of me. What the hell had I done now?

Thankfully the rest of the morning passed by in relative calm. Teddy sat with us and ate breakfast with no trouble, though somewhat messily. And then, Harry and Ginny took him back down to the shop to feed the Pygmy Puff's as one of us usually did for George on a Sunday. The three of them spent a good hour or so down there, giving Hermione and I a few moments of peace and quiet. In fact, it was so peaceful that I managed to nod off on my bed for half an hour when I said I was going to go get dressed.

Somehow, we managed to suitably entertain Teddy and keep him out of further mischief for the morning until it was time to get ready to head over to Mum and Dad's for the Sunday family dinner. The weekend ritual was something I actually enjoyed – catching up with my siblings, eating good home cooked food, guilting my Mum into doing my laundry – all good! Teddy was sat playing by himself in the lounge whilst we got dressed, even if I thought leaving him alone was a bad idea after the ink débâcle! At least we'd managed to clear all that up with a few spells – mostly charms Hermione knew. So, I wasn't all that surprised when Hermione stepped out of my room and shrieked.

"What's he done now?" I asked, poking my head around the door, expecting to find another disaster.

"He's...he's covered in red spots!" she gasped, hurrying over to the child.

I followed after her, pulling my head through a jumper. "Well, he doesn't look bothered by it," I noted, sticking my arms through the holes and watching the little boy happily build towers and knock them down.

Hermione crouched by his side and felt his forehead, then examined his hand that was covered in blotchy red marks. "Dragon Pox?" she whispered to me.

"Nah," I shook my head, crouching down beside her. "You usually get green skin with that and raised bumps rather than spots," I added, checking his hand myself.

"Spattergroit?" she then whispered, brushing his turquoise hair back from his face. Teddy grinned up at her and offered her a block, hoping she'd play.

I shook my head again. "Usually large purple boils," I reminded her. "What if he caught something off the Pygmy's" I wondered.

"What's wrong?" Harry and Ginny appeared behind us, giving us a curious look. I suppose we did look rather suspicious both knelt beside Teddy and whispering between ourselves.

"Oh, he...erm. We..." Hermione stammered for an excuse, thinking Harry wasn't able to take much more going wrong this weekend.

"Is he okay?" Harry asked. "Did he do something again?" he sighed, wearily and running a hand through his consistently messy black hair.

"He just seems to have, erm, developed some spots," I told him, standing up and out of the way so he could see him.

"Teddy!" Harry rushed to his side. "Are you okay? Do you feel poorly?" He checked his forehead the same as Hermione had done and sat down beside him, pulling the child onto his lap. "Do you feel sick, Teddy?" He peered at him closely, concern evident on his face

Teddy, having given up on Hermione, handed him one of his blocks. "'weeties?" he asked, hopefully.

"Well, I'd say he was feeling okay if he can think about sweets!" I laughed.

"Let's get him to Mum," Ginny decided, touching Harry's shoulder gently, everyone completely ignoring my comment. "She'll know what to do if he's not well."

Harry looked up at her and nodded, standing as he hefted Teddy into his arms. "Come on mate, we're going to go see Aunt Molly."

Teddy grinned and clapped his hands, probably aware that Aunt Molly, or Mum to me, always had the best food! One by one we all went through the floo, heading for my childhood home. Seconds later the fireplace at my parents spat each of us out, startling my poor old Dad who had been enjoying a nap in the sitting room before the chaos began.

Harry was already yelling for Mum as they rushed through to the kitchen with Teddy in his arms, Ginny at his side. Hermione was trailing behind when I caught up with them.

"Whatever is the matter?" Mum looked up, closing the oven door. Something smelled amazing in there. "Though, it's nice to see you all here early for once!" she chuckled, putting down her tea towel. "Now, what's with all the shouting?"

"Teddy. He's not well." Harry thrust the child forwards. "We don't know what's wrong. He just suddenly came out in all these spots and...you have to fix him!" Harry sounded desperate, panicked even. I sometimes wondered if he was going to survive being a Godfather – Merlin help him if he ever had kids of his own!

"Let's have a look," Mum said calmly and patted the top of the kitchen table for him to set the child down on.

"Aun'y Moll!" Teddy grinned, reaching out to her.

"Hello sweetheart," she smiled and brushed her hand through his hair. "Let's have a look at these funny spots, shall we?" she murmured, sitting down in front of him and looking closer.

"Spot!" Teddy frowned, poking one on the back of his own hand as though he was only just aware of them.

"Yes, you seem to have a few," she smiled as she rolled his sleeve up to check there. "Hmm, they only seem to be on his hands and face," she muttered to herself, lost in thought about something. Then, she chuckled and picked up the tea towel from the table to begin rubbing at his hand, smearing a 'spot' until it practically disappeared.

"What? I don't..." Harry asked, looking back and forth between Mum and Teddy, seemingly dumbfounded.

Mum looked up at us all then, shook her head and wiped another section of the tea towel against Ginny's mouth. The same colour as the spot came off on the tea towel. "Lipstick!" she announced, showing us the cloth. "Did you lose something Ginny?" she asked my rather sheepish looking sister.

Ginny squirmed under Mum's scrutiny and then rummaged in her handbag. "He must have been in my bag," she sighed, looking at Harry apologetically.

"You...you mean it was just lipstick?" Harry asked, visibly relaxing.

"Yes. He must have found it and drawn on himself with it," she smiled at the lot of us, getting up to take the child to the sink where she began washing the rest off. "I remember Ron doing a similar thing when he was about this age," she chuckled. "Only, he decided to draw all over his sister with it," she laughed as Teddy giggled and squirmed whilst she washed him off.

"Mum!" I whined, hating her telling childhood stories about me – especially the embarrassing ones. I had noticed that since Hermione officially became my girlfriend, Mum had been doing this more often whenever she was around. I knew what she was up to - the sneaky old woman.

Harry let out a huge sigh of relief as he sank into a kitchen chair, running his hands over his face.

"I'm so sorry," Ginny kissed the top of his head and took a seat beside him.

He shrugged. "Not your fault Gin. He's just...eurgh!" he shook his head. I had to say I agreed with him.

"Has he been giving you a hard time?" Mum asked us, bringing Teddy back over now he was all clean.

I laughed at that – hard time? Nah – course not!

"You could say that," Ginny sighed, a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this babysitting lark," Harry groaned.

"Nonsense!" Mum passed the kid over to him. "Look at him, he's perfectly happy and quite content. He's not hungry or dirty or injured. I'd say you were doing just fine, pet," Mum patted his shoulder as she got up to continue preparing dinner.

Perhaps the less she knew about the sugar high I'd given him, the traumatising of Crookshanks who was still in hiding under my bed, the destruction of our lounge or the great escape this morning, the better!

Later that night, hours after Teddy had been collected by his Grandmother and taken home, I crawled into bed beside Hermione. "Well, that was an...interesting weekend," I chuckled quietly whilst thumping my pillow into position.

Hermione chuckled beside me, turning a page in her book before sticking the bookmark in it. "Yes," she agreed, "interesting is one word for it," she smiled.

"You know, I think I really learnt something this weekend," I began as she set her book down and snuggled under the covers beside me.

"You did?" she asked, sounding pleased.

"Uh huh," I sighed, settling down and holding my arm out towards her. She smiled and cuddled in close, resting her head on my chest.

"What was that then?" she wondered, tracing patterns with her fingertip over my t-shirt.

"I learnt," I sighed, "that we're not anywhere near ready for the responsibility of kids!"

"Oh honestly Ronald!" Hermione grumbled and rolled her eyes at me once more before sliding away from me.

I don't know what that attitude was for – I hadn't been the one who thought babysitting Teddy all weekend would be fun – I knew it would be hard work and I had been proven right.

"Besides," I added with a smirk, "right now I reckon it's much more fun to just practice the process required to create babies," I flashed my eyebrows at her suggestively.

I knew she wanted to continue being annoyed with me and that her brain needed to disagree with me, but I saw her quickly lose that battle as she chuckled lightly and returned to my arms. "Much more fun," she agreed, capturing my lips in a soft kiss.

* * *

 _Thank you as always for the reviews last chapter – they are appreciated more than you know. And, more reviews this chapter might make me get better, so you know what to do!_

 _In the next chapter or two, things really pick up..._


	11. Chapter 11

_Apologies for the delay again!_

 _Also, wanted to thank the couple of annon's that pointed out to me I had put Hannah Abbot in the wrong house (I am horrified with myself for doing that – I know she's a Hufflepuff, so I have NO idea what made me write Ravenclaw *rolls eyes *) I thought I had edited it after the first person told me, then I got told again by someone else. I didn't realise I had to replace the edited chapter. Anyway, it is now fixed and now I don't look like a useless HP fan :p_

 _Oh, word of warning – there is a somewhat detailed adult scene in this chapter, so if you don't like that kinda stuff, gloss over it._

 _Usual disclaimers...I'm not JK – if I was, more people would talk to me on Twitter, but then I'd have to deal with loads of trolls too :/_

 _On with the story…_

 **Chapter 11**

"Are you and Hermione in or out tonight?" Harry asked me, shrugging on his cloak to head home for the day.

"Dunno," I muttered, pulling the deluminator from my pocket to extinguish my desk lamp – something that drove my girlfriend insane. She claimed it was just as easy to turn lights out properly, I begged to differ. "Not discussed it yet, but probably in. I fancy just chilling out with a take-a-way or something," I decided, grabbing my own cloak and folding it across my arm.

Harry nodded and collected up a couple of files to take home. Files I knew he'd never even crack open – he just liked to look good. "Well, Ginny's got the morning off training tomorrow, so she's coming over and I'm taking her out tonight," he added as we walked towards the elevators together.

"Right," I nodded, considering what he'd just said. "So, what you're trying to tell me is that we have the flat to ourselves tonight?" I checked.

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged. "For a bit anyway, and just remember the house rules!" he called after me as he turned towards the elevator and I carried on down the hall.

"Yeah, yeah!" I flapped his concerns away. "I've got to pick Hermione up, so...see you later." I waved, heading for the staircase to run down to her floor. The stairs was always a faster option during peak times with the lifts.

Minutes later, I strolled through her department, hands in my pockets and keeping my head down as I sped past Céleste's welcome desk, hoping she wouldn't notice me behind a group of workers just leaving the department. Thankfully, since the incident a couple of weeks ago, I had avoided any further confrontations with her. Besides her enthusiastically waving at me from across the hall, usually with a huge smile on her face as though she was merely happy just for a glimpse of me. Weird is what she was! Hermione thought I was being mean and that she was just being overly friendly and told me not to give her a hard time because Celéste came across as rather shy in the office.

I was hardly surprised to see from across the room that Hermione was still busy at work, scribbling away on a roll of parchment and hadn't even noticed everyone around her packing up and heading home for the day. I navigated my way between the other desks towards her as various colleagues waved and greeted me since I'd become a familiar presence here. I'm quite sure they just thought I was being a thoughtful boyfriend in meeting my girlfriend from work every day – some of the blokes probably thought I was a right sap to be honest! But, they hadn't a clue that I was doing this for her own protection and I couldn't care less what they thought.

"Hey love," I smiled, placing my hands on her desk and leaning across. "Ready to head home?" I asked hopefully.

"Ron!" she exclaimed when she looked up to find me hovering over her. Stretching up, she met my lips in a brief, soft kiss. "Just a minute, I have to finish this proposal," she held up one finger, "then we can go."

"Proposal? You're asking someone else to marry you?" I asked in mock distress, holding my hand to my chest as though she had wounded me.

Almost against her will, her lips twitched into a smile, finding me amusing but not wanting to admit it. "Not that kind of proposal, Ron." She shook her head and continued writing.

I knew that really, I just wanted to see her reaction. Truth be told, even though I knew none of us were ready to even be seriously considering marriage yet, the thought of Hermione with someone else made me sick. The same way I'd felt when I'd seen her with Krum at the Yule Ball - only now I had the maturity to understand why I felt that way and what it was. "Good to know," I nodded, trying to read what she was writing. "So, what exactly are you proposing?" I wondered.

She set her quill down again, folded her hands upon her desk and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling with excitement and fire and I just knew I was about to hear one of her lectures about one of her causes. "Every year," she began, "the department chooses one creature or beast as their cause for the year. During that year, we work to raise awareness, in regards to how to correctly protect them and their welfare, what their rights are and easing people's misguided fears about that particular beast or creature. They also raise money to help the cause and look at the laws regarding that species to see if anything should be changed in order to help or support them. On top of all the usual work we do with every creature and beast as well, obviously. My boss has asked everyone to write a proposal for which beast or creature we think should be the focus for the next year and why."

"I see," I nodded in understanding. "So, this is your revised manifesto for S.P.E.W then?" I assumed, waving my hand towards the rolls of parchment she was covering in her tiny, neat handwriting. I vaguely wondered whether her boss would ever have time to read it all.

"Of course," she nodded eagerly, picking up her quill again. "And I hope that...you said it right!" she looked back up at me, startled. "You didn't call it spew."

I shrugged. "I get it now. You just want to offer them some support."

She smiled at me. "Yes. I do. I also understand what you were trying to tell me for years, that not all of them wish to be free. But, I still think they should have more rights. They deserve to be paid for their work and to have time off. And I think it's truly barbaric how they are expected to punish themselves for ridiculous things. I'm hoping I'm making a strong case here for their promotion." She dipped her quill into the ink and began scribbling away again.

"How much more you gonna write?" I wondered, trying to be casual about it as I perched my backside against her desk.

"I'm almost done," she replied, not even looking up.

"Good," I nodded, taking a seat on a desk opposite to wait. For awhile I let her scribble away, thinking 'almost done' might mean a couple of minutes. What a prat I was – did I not know her at all? I was going to be here for hours yet! Sighing, I began gazing around the office, looking away sharply when I saw Céleste peering over at us. I rolled my eyes and shoved my hands in my pocket, whistling to myself. Hermione gave me a fierce stare and I stopped abruptly. I found a stray toffee in my pocket and gratefully shoved it into my mouth before picking up a book and flicking through it. I soon discovered the book was boring – full of diagrams of plants and breeding charts for plimpies!

"Oh," I suddenly remembered. "Harry's taking Ginny out tonight, so we'll have the place to ourselves. I thought we could get a take-a-way on the way home?" I suggested. "Maybe have an early night?" I winked. "We could even fool around in the shower whilst he's not home to grumble at us," I added.

I saw her smile and the faint blush on her cheeks as she continued writing. "Sounds nice," she replied.

I grinned to myself then and leant back on the desk, rather smug as I kicked my legs. I found a ball of screwed up parchment then and began to toss it in the air and catch it again. Until Hermione looked up, not at all amused.

I tossed it into the bin as I heaved a sigh, I was already fed up of waiting. Suddenly I remembered something else I wanted to tell her, perhaps a little more important than the fact we'd have some privacy tonight. "Oh, yeah. I heard back from the analysis squad today, you know about those horrid notes?"

"You did?" She looked up at me, pausing in her writing. "And?" she asked.

"Erm, well they were clean, no traces of DNA or magic. They couldn't trace them back to anyone or anything. So, they are basically a none starter," I confessed.

"Oh," she sighed. "Well, it was worth a try I suppose." She gave a tiny shrug.

"Yeah. But, we're going to get to the bottom of this and stop it all somehow. I promise."

"I know you will." She looked at me with pride. "And, I know you're bored waiting for me, so if you want to get out of here faster, you could go put these books away for me?" she suggested, nudging the teetering pile beside her. "I'll hopefully be done then."

"Where do they go?" I jumped down and grabbed the pile.

"The book case over there," she pointed with her quill, reading over what she'd just written. "And please put them back tidily."

I hurried over, shoving them all away hastily, until thankfully, five minutes later she was finally done. "There," she blew on her writing to dry the ink. "I'll have to read it over again tomorrow before I hand it in, but I think I'm done." She looked pleased with herself as she carefully rolled it all up.

"Great!" I grabbed her cloak and bag. "Ready?" I asked, holding it out for her.

"Eager for something are we?" she turned her head and smirked at me.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" I grinned and kissed her cheek as she allowed me to clasp her cloak for her. "Actually, I'm just really hungry!" I admitted.

"You!" she poked me in the ribs, knowing it was a ticklish spot for me. "And I thought maybe you were eager for us having some time home alone?" She twisted in my arms until she was facing me and turned her smouldering eyes on me as she fluttered her eyelashes and gave a little pout, attempting to flirt with me. Flirting was just not one of Hermione's forte's – so it was a good job she didn't need to bother since I loved and fancied her loads anyway!

"Oh, I am. Believe me, I'm looking forward to getting some peace from the specky prat whining about missing my bloody sister!" I rolled my eyes.

Hermione poked me again and then tickled beneath my ribs. "Be nice!" she warned me, playfully as I grasped hold of her and we giggled together. I tried to fight her tickling fingers off me, before I pulled her into my arms and kissed her deeply. Further complaints on her part died on her lips as she kissed me back, grasping me closer fiercely, hands winding into my hair just the way I liked.

We were in serious danger of getting carried away (my mind conjuring up rather racy images of what we could get up to if only she had a private office – one day!) until there was a loud crash from somewhere across the room behind us. We abruptly leapt apart, looking around curiously for the source of the noise. All I saw was Céleste, bending to pick something up. I sighed and ran my hand though my now tussled hair, realising she had probably dropped something.

"Yes, well..." Hermione muttered meekly, adjusting her clothing and smoothing her hair back. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her tongue flicked out to lick her lips, I had to bite my lip to prevent a moan from escaping. "Maybe we should...go?" she suggested, looking up at me through her lashes.

I grinned widely, seeing that look in her eye and nodded eagerly. "That was just a small taste of things to come," I winked and took her hand. "Come on, lets go home," I smiled, leading her from her office. I wrapped an arm around her waist as she hitched her bag onto her other shoulder. "You know, we could always eat that take-a-way...naked," I whispered, suggestively.

"Ron!" she giggled, pulling a face at me as she blushed. "Hush," she hissed then, nodding her head towards the door where Céleste was still sat, trying to pretend like she wasn't watching us.

"Bloody hell, does she never go home?" I groaned.

"Be nice, she's been very quiet the last few days. I think she's upset about something," Hermione told me, being far too kind.

"Maybe so, but she's still a complete weirdo!" I muttered.

"Ron, that's mean," she tapped my arm. "I just think she's shy and a bit lonely. Maybe we should ask her to join us next time we all go out together?"

"Not bloody likely!" I shuddered at the thought of her flirting with me all night or something worse. "Come on." I walked a bit quicker. "My gut is rumbling and something else is rising, if you get what I mean," I winked.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but I didn't miss the secret grin she also wore. "Goodnight Céleste. See you tomorrow," Hermione called pleasantly as we passed her desk, giving her a wave.

"Yeah, night," I added, far less enthusiastically. I didn't care what Hermione said about her – I still thought she was too freakily weird!

Céleste gave us no reply, merely a half hearted wave and, as we headed out into the corridor, I could have sworn that wave turned into the finger as she scowled at us. But, perhaps I was just paranoid.

* * *

I sighed contently, pulling Hermione tighter against my body and placing another lazy kiss on the back of her neck. "This is nice," I whispered against her ear, nipping at the lobe.

She gave a small chuckle and laced her fingers through mine where my hand lay draped over her body. "It is," she agreed, watching the flames from the fire dance in the grate.

The coffee table before us was littered with empty and half eaten boxes of take-away food. The fire was keeping the room nice and cosy – something Crookshanks was taking full advantage of as he sprawled out on the rug in front of it.

Hermione and I lay together on the couch, her back pressed against my chest, our legs tangled together across the length as I held her in my arms, enjoying the peace of the moment and the chance to get to relax with my girlfriend in privacy.

"Pity we don't get to do this more often," I commented, brushing her hair out of the way to trail a series of soft kisses down her neck and towards her clothed shoulder. If I'd had my way, we'd have been naked ages ago, but Hermione had wanted to cuddle and relax after we'd eaten. "Maybe we should think of getting our own place," I suddenly suggested.

Hermione turned in my arms, leaning her head back to look at me. "Excuse me?" she asked, surprised. "Are you asking me to live with you?"

"Oh, well. I mean, you practically live here anyway," I shrugged. "And, the three of us can't all live together forever can we? Be nice to have our own privacy as well," I added.

"Yes, eventually. But, right now we certainly don't have the funds for our own place. George let's you stay here for free to look after the flat and a few hours of help in the shop. Why spend money on somewhere when we can stay here and save up for something bigger someday?" she asked, being as always, the responsible, logical one in this relationship.

"You're right," I sighed, moving fingertips against her back. "I was just thinking out loud, you know, about the future. Though, that does bring up the topic of you moving in here with me again?" I raised my eyebrows.

That had been something I had suggested when she'd first finished school and it had amused me, given the fact we'd been intimate a number of times by then, that she seemed scandalised by the idea! All sorts of excuses and reasons were dreamt up – from her parents not approving and my Mum not being too happy about it either.

But, the truth was, after everything that had happened the previous year with her parents, she hadn't wanted to upset them or make them feel neglected again. After almost a whole year without them and then months back at school, she wanted to spend time with them and restore a relationship that was still a little tentative and wary after she'd taken their memories and then restored them. She explained that she'd feel guilty if she abandoned them again by moving out and I tried to understand and be patient.

Gradually, after she had begun spending more and more nights with me, I had discovered that another reason she hadn't wanted to move in with me so early on was fear of ruining what we had by becoming too intense too fast and I could respect that. But now, she slept here more often than she did her parents house and for the past two weeks she'd been staying here constantly thanks to the threat I thought she was under. I'm not sure what she'd told her parents, but they didn't seem to mind. So, I figured it was time we broached the subject again.

"Ron..." she sighed and placed a hand on my chest, looking down as she fiddled with a button on my shirt. "I just, I don't know," she admitted softly. "What if it makes things complicated? Not just for us, but for Harry too? He lives here as much as you, we can't just decide something like this."

"Oh, he won't mind. You're here most of the time anyway," I waved away that concern with a flap of my hand.

She sighed, pressed her lips to my forehead. "Perhaps he won't, but, let me think about it, okay? I'm not saying no," she added when she saw the disappointment I made a lousy job of hiding, "but, just give me a few days to think about it. And maybe ask Harry's opinion, as well as talk to my parents. Okay?"

"Okay, fine." I nodded and kissed her lips. "But, just know the offer is always there. You can move in with me whenever you want."

"Thank you," she smiled, placed a kiss on the tip of my nose and then wriggled out of my embrace.

"Where you going?" I frowned, trying to hold onto her. I was comfy and warm and didn't feel like moving at all.

She smiled at me. "I need a drink. Those noodles were rather spicy," she added, licking her lips as I let her go free and she took her glass into the kitchen.

I rolled onto my back and folded my hands behind my head once she got up, thinking on what she'd just admitted to. She was seriously considering moving in with me. Wow! Living with my girlfriend, That sounded so...mature, and...responsible! I gave a little shudder at the thought - was I really ready for that? I guess there was only one way to find out, I decided.

Hearing her clinking at something in the kitchen, I got up and went to see what she was up to, figuring I could do with a drink myself. I was stopped short by the sight that greeted me as I stood in the kitchen doorway. Hermione was bent over, looking in the fridge, her curvy backside upturned. The white knickers she wore peaked from beneath my t-shirt that she had changed into out of her robes when we'd gotten home from work. I paused, thoroughly enjoying the view as my work trousers suddenly becoming too tight. Hell yeah – I was ready to live with my girlfriend full time if I got to enjoy more sights like this!

Closing the fridge door, Hermione set a cold bottle of pumpkin juice on the counter, rinsed her glass out and began to pour herself a drink. I couldn't hold back any longer, I decided to make my presence known.

Creeping up behind where she stood at the counter, I pressed my body against hers. "Pour me a glass too, would you, love?" I asked, setting my glass next to hers and kissing her cheek. She pulled a little face at me as her head turned slightly, one eyebrow arched questioningly before she shook her head and filled my glass with juice too.

"Thanks," I sighed gratefully, picking up the glass and taking a long swig, at the same time pressing my crotch against her backside. I knew she had to feel my hardness rubbing against her as I flexed my hips slightly.

"Ron," she uttered my name under her breath, her hands holding onto the counter. "What are you...oh," she gasped when I thrust in harder, a hand coming around to hold her against me, one sliding to cup a breast through the t-shirt. "Ron..." she sighed.

"Hmm?" I asked through a grin as my lips slid up and down her neck, moving her hair aside to flick my tongue against the back of it. With one hand still cupping and caressing her breast, feeling her nipple pebble against my palm, I tugged my wand from my jeans, placing it on the counter beside us and managed to get my jeans undone, shoving them down my thighs.

The relief on my crotch was bliss as I pressed into her again. This time I felt her push back, sighing softly as her hand came up to cover mine on her breast. "We shouldn't do this...here," she whispered softly, contradicting her own words as she pushed her backside against me.

"Uh huh," I mumbled, dismissing her feeble protest since I was enjoying the feel of my body rubbing against hers, nothing but thin cotton of our underwear separating us.

Truth was, if I kept at it, it would probably be all over before we even got started. There was something very erotic about being rather risqué in the kitchen – a place we'd never dared venture our intimate life into before now.

"Then tell me to stop," I added, turning her in my arms and claiming her lips in a deep, passion filled kiss.

Rather than deter me, I felt a smug satisfaction as she tugged me closer, grasping hold of my shoulders and returning my kiss with force. Her tongue thrust into my mouth, sliding against my own as she moaned into the kiss. Her hands slid up my neck and into my hair, making me groan as her nails scraped along my scalp. Call me kinky or whatever, but I had a thing about her hands in my hair, scratching my scalp or tugging on handfuls of it. It made me hot and she knew it.

Breaking the kiss, my lips trailed down her neck as my hands trailed down her sides, sliding up and under the T-shirt, stroking smooth, soft, warm skin. She shivered against me, her hands still in my hair as I inched towards her breasts, pushing the bra out of the way.

"Ron," she sighed, letting her head fall back and allowing me further exploration of her neck at the same time.

"H'mione," I murmured in response as I felt her her small hands move down my neck, tickling across my chest as she unfastened the buttons on my shirt, causing me to now shiver in pleasure against her. Swiftly her hands found my arse, still clad in cotton boxer shorts. She grasped two handfuls, pulling me flush against her body, making me grunt. "I love you..." I muttered against her earlobe, groping her boobs and rolling her nipples between my fingers.

"Mmm...love you too," she replied with a heady sigh, dipping her hands inside my underwear, groping until she took my hard length in her hand, gripping gently. I groaned again and claimed her mouth in further deep, hot kisses. It would seem she had forgotten her protests about us doing this in the kitchen, had forgotten where we were entirely, becoming lost in the moment.

In one swift movement, I pulled the t-shirt over her head and shrugged the open shirt from my shoulders, tossing them with careless abandon onto the floor. My mouth immediately pursued her boobs, worshipping them as she moaned in my arms, grasping me tightly, her own body bucking against mine.

"More," she murmured. "Oh Ron, yes, I want you," she demanded, her hands pushing down my underwear, my jeans now pooled at my ankles and freeing my erection into her greedy hands. "We…we should go, oh...to the bedroom. Ha...Harry could be...home! Any minute..." she mumbled, her voice husky with desire, sounding breathless. Not that her worry of being caught caused her hands to stop what they were doing.

"Uh huh..." I grunted, not really hearing her. Instead, giving her what she wanted, one hand slid between her legs. Her knickers were already damp as I pressed one finger against her. She groaned again, her hands everywhere on me, sliding over skin, leaving heated trails in their wake. "More...bloody hell I want you," I muttered.

Hermione's bra joined the rapidly growing pile of clothes on the floor as I also stepped free from my jeans and underwear, leaving me naked. My lips began to follow an unguided path down her body, tasting and licking her soft skin towards her belly button and further until I pressed my lips against the crotch of her knickers. She inhaled sharply and grasped my head. "Yes..." she hissed, pushing her hips forwards.

Grasping her waist, I lifted her small frame onto the counter behind her and nudged my way in between her thighs. "Still want more?" I asked, kissing her lips in short, sharp bursts.

"Yes...Merlin, yes Ron. Please," she gazed deep into my eyes, kissing me back, her hands running up and down my body and through my hair.

I smirked to myself then, tugging her knickers down her pale, smooth legs and tossing them onto the pile. "Then you, my love, shall receive more," I winked, dipping my head between her thighs. She groaned as her eyes closed and her head fell back. Her hands grasped a handful of my hair, making me grunt in my task - knowing where she needed me and what she liked best.

"Oh yes….don't stop," she gasped, her legs curling around me, holding me tight against her as her hand guided my head. "Right there! Yes! Oh sweet Merlin…" she moaned loudly. "So close…"

My fingers joined my tongue. My own arousal begged for attention, but not before I was done pleasuring my woman - something I actually enjoyed giving as much as she enjoyed receiving. This was something that had only gotten better over time as we became more familiar and bold with one another.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed and tugged me closer. "Yes! There! Don't stop..." she moaned almost under her breath, making those cute, sexy whimpering noises that let me know I was doing it right. Though believe me, those sounds had scared me to death the first time I heard them – thinking I had hurt her or done something drastically wrong. Now that I knew otherwise, I loved to hear them - loved doing things to her just so I could hear them.

I knew she was close, her body was moving against me, her whimpers got faster and her breathing was heavy. I kept going, focusing right where she needed me.

"Oh!" she squeaked, inching closer to me, shifting on the counter top.

And then I heard something, vaguely, in the distance. As though coming from another time and place. The roar of the fireplace as though someone had thrown floo powder into it or someone was about to exit. And then a sound that finally made me pause in action, voices coming from the other room through the barely closed door.

"Do you want a drink?" I heard Harry's voice ask someone.

"Can't we just go to your room?" purred my sisters voice in reply.

I lifted my head, suddenly losing the mood – hearing your baby sister suggest going to her boyfriends room was bound to do that! Hermione froze, lowering her legs as she met my eye.

"Shit!" It suddenly dawned on me that we were no longer alone and that we were naked and very obviously aroused in the middle of the kitchen they were about to walk into. "Oh fuck!" I cursed, bending to gather up our clothes.

"Ron!" Hermione slapped my shoulder as she slid off the counter. "I told you we shouldn't do this in here!" she hissed at me, not the sexy hissing sounds of moments earlier either, much more irritated as though this was all my fault. "What are we going to do?" she whispered, shooting worried glances at the door and attempting to cover herself with her hands.

I stood looking at her, my arms full of our discarded clothing, not having a clue how to get to my room without them seeing us – save for hitting them with a temporary spell to blind them, or if I had some of that blasted Peruvian instant darkness powder my brother had in the shop downstairs...if only I had time to disapparate down to grab some. And that was when it hit me, spying my wand still abandoned on the kitchen counter, I came up with a plan. "Come here," I told her, tugging her into my arms.

"No! What are you... Ron we need to get out of here!" She struggled against me.

"I'm not trying to be funny," I held her forcefully, "but this is the only way," I explained, before clumsily turning us both on the spot, Disapparating directly to my bedroom, leaving the kitchen just as I heard the door open.

"Ron? Hermione?" Harry was calling as we landed together in a tangled mess on my bed. "What's with all the mess in here?" he grumbled. I grimaced, realising we'd left all our take out boxes and plates from dinner. He knocked on our door. "Oi! You in there?" he asked.

"Hermione?" called Ginny in a rather sing song voice, as though meaning to torment. "Why did I just find your bra thrown on the kitchen floor?" she giggled before something went splat against my door, I guessed it was the bra in question.

"Damn!" I hissed, looking down at the items of clothing still clutched in my arms – I guess I had missed one. Hermione narrowed her eyes at me, blaming me for that one too.

"Oh! Oh no they didn't!" Harry sounded horrified at the idea coming to him. "You disgusting little shits!" he thumped my bedroom door. "How could you? In the bloody kitchen? We eat in there!" he sounded disgusted.

"Harry," Ginny tried to placate him. "They were just..."

"Don't even say it!" He cut her off. "Your brother was naked in the kitchen! The pair of them doing Merlin knows what, and you're sticking up for him?"

"If he can't figure out what we were doing, no wonder Ginny's often frustrated!" I giggled. Hermione tutted at me and folded her arms over her breasts. Obviously she was feeling embarrassed and thought this was entirely my fault – despite the fact she had been totally into it, begging me even, just a couple of minutes ago.

"You'd better bloody get out here and clear up your mess!" Harry thumped one last time on our door. "And scrub any surface in the kitchen that you….eurgh!" he muttered, his voice fading away.

"Night guys!" Ginny laughed, obviously leading Harry away, before his bedroom door finally closed.

"Well..." I began, tossing our clothing onto the floor. "That was..."

"Utterly humiliating!" Hermione finished, sat naked on my bed, unconsciously pushing her boobs up with her arms folded over them and the fact her body still appeared flushed was helping to relight my arousal.

"Having second thoughts about a place of our own right now, aren't you?" I asked.

She tried to keep stern with me, to act as though she was pissed off I had instigated something that was causing her such embarrassment. But, I saw her crack, I saw her lips twitch and then smile before she laughed out loud. "Yes," she agreed with a nod.

"Yeah?" I grinned, poking her in the ribs. "You actually agree with me?"

"It's been known to happen," she smirked, wriggling away from my hands.

"Go on, admit it." I poked her again. "Say it. I had a good idea." I began tickling her.

"Ron!" she squealed with laughter and writhed on the bed as my hands tickled up and down her sides, knowing her most ticklish spots.

"Say it." I laughed, though finding the sight of her wriggling around on my bed, her head thrown back in laughter and the fact she was still naked a huge turn on. "Go on, admit it," I tickled her more.

"Okay, okay," she panted, surrendering. "You had a good idea," she admitted whilst pushing my hands away. "Doesn't change the fact we can't afford it though!"

"No, but it's nice to dream," I smiled, looking down at her where she now lay, sprawled on my bed, flushed and perspiring. I gave her a rather smug grin, knowing I had her right where I wanted her as I leant down for a long, deep kiss.

"Mmm," she sighed as I pulled back slightly, sliding her hand into my hair and tugged me down to kiss her again.

"Now," I murmured against her lips. "Where were we?"

* * *

"So, as I was saying," Neville continued the conversation we'd been having before we Disapparated back to the designated apparition point in our department. "I've been popping up to Hogwarts a bit just recently, mostly to visit with Professor Sprout really," he explained as we made our way back to the office.

"Oh, right," I nodded, rubbing my rumbling stomach – this damn mission had made me miss lunch and I was starving. "How is she?" I wondered idly. It had been almost two years since I had seen any of the old professors, save for those we'd occasionally bumped into when I used to meet Hermione in Hogsmeade during the weekend visits.

"Oh, good, good." he nodded. "But she has started to think about retiring in a couple of years," he continued, "and...she's suggested me for the post."

"What?" That one stopped me short as I turned to face Neville who almost bumped into me upon my abrupt stop.

"I know, my reaction too," he laughed. "But, she reckons it's a shame to waste my talent for the field and said she's prepared to train me to be her successor. She wants me to be her assistant for awhile and, hopefully, eventually take over."

"And, is that something you'd want to do?" I asked, continuing our walk down the corridor towards our offices.

"Yeah," he nodded eagerly. "Herbology has always been something of a passion of mine. And, I don't know if I want to be an Auror forever, you know."

"Yeah, I hear you." I sighed, having had the same occasional thoughts myself. "Some days, when we catch the bad guys and make things a bit better in the world, this job is great. Other days when you can't see over a pile of paperwork or you get a boring mission like today - I think otherwise."

Neville nodded in agreement. "Exactly," he mumbled.

Both us felt weary from the monotonous mission of today. We'd been 'chosen' to escort a charged criminal to the Wizengamot for his hearing. A despicable arse - some pathetic Death Eater sympathiser who had been caught torturing a young, married muggle-born couple. We'd had to stand guard throughout the long proceedings and then, after the verdict had been given, escort him to Azkaban to begin his sentence.

"So, you're really thinking of leaving us?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Not sure yet. But, I've been chatting to Hannah about it a bit."

"Hannah?" I stopped walking again.

"Oh, erm...yeah," Neville blushed, stumbling over his feet as he stopped in front of me. "I've, erm. Well, we've been seeing a bit, you know...of each other," he shrugged.

"Seeing a bit of each other, eh?" I smirked, raising an eyebrow as I nudged him playfully with my elbow, making fun.

"Not like that!" He blushed deeper red. "I mean, not yet," he murmured thoughtfully under his breath. "But, we've been out a few times," he smiled.

"Good for you, mate!" I slapped him on the back. "Told ya she'd go for you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I've been talking about it with her and she reckons I should follow my dreams."

"Sounds like something a girl would say." I rolled my eyes. "So, what are you going to do?" I wondered, picking up our pace again, in a hurry to report back and hopefully get something to eat.

"I'm not sure yet," he sighed, rubbing his upper lip. "Though Pomona,"

"Pomona?" I queried, turning my head to look at him in surprise.

"She said I should call her by her first name since she's not my teacher any more and if we'll possibly be working together," he explained, though still obviously found it uncomfortable to do so. I suppose I would have felt the same had Mcgonagall suddenly started insisting I call her Minerva and invite me for tea! "Anyway, she said if we were to start my training, we could begin at the start of the new school year, this September. So..."

"You're thinking of jacking it in before then?"

He nodded slowly, as though hesitant to admit to that. "I'd miss everyone here, of course. Especially seeing you and Harry every day. But, I've got to say I am really tempted to go for it. I guess I'd have to hand in my notice by August, so I suppose I have a few months to make a final decision yet."

"You know what Nev, I reckon you should go for it. Follow your dreams or whatever Hannah told you. I mean, we went through shit to get to where we are now, where we're free to live our lives and everything. So, why not go for what you really want?"

Neville's expression lit up at that. "You really think so?"

"I do," I nodded certainly.

"Thanks Ron," he grinned. "That actually means a lot to me." He patted my back just as my stomach gave another disgruntled rumble.

"Sorry!" My hand flew to my stomach, rubbing it again. "Can't believe they made us miss lunch for this crap today. I'm starving!" I grumbled, rounding the corner towards the cubicle I shared with Harry. "Ah brilliant!" I exclaimed upon spying what was on my desk – a basket full of little iced cup cakes. Eagerly, I grabbed one. "Where did these come from?" I asked Harry, already peeling the wrapper off the cake.

"Dunno," he looked up from his work. "I came back from lunch and they were on your desk," he added, setting down his quill. "I hope they were for you, 'cause I already stole one."

I shrugged and shoved the cake in my mouth, biting off a huge chunk. "Mmm," I moaned, my stomach happy to finally have it's demands met. "Want one Neville?" I asked, pushing the basket towards him.

"Thanks," he took one. "Well, suppose I'd best go start filling in my paperwork," he frowned, shuffling off with his cake. "See you later," he waved.

"Good seeing you Neville." Harry waved. "We should plan to meet up for drinks with him again soon," he turned to me. "What do you think?"

"Uh huh," I nodded, my mouth full as I took another cake from the basket. "We could make it a double, well triple date, since he's been seeing Hannah!" I let on.

"Really? The swine kept that quiet!" Harry laughed. "So, how did it go? Did he get let off?" he asked, referring to the mission this morning and the prisoner we'd escorted.

"As boring as a History of Magic lesson, but he got six years," I added, wiping crumbs from my mouth and already peeling the case from another cake. "Got off lightly, if you ask me!" I shook my head.

"Yeah." Harry agreed. "Six years isn't much after what he did to that young couple, especially when they'll have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Are they still in St Mungo's?" he asked, knowing it was a touchy subject for me. I always found cases against Muggle-borns difficult to deal with, I took it all rather personally and it made me even more protective around Hermione after dealing with one.

"As far as I know. Poor sods," I sighed, rummaging through the basket of cakes, wondering how many I could get through before the end of the day without being sick - because I knew Hermione wouldn't appreciate me bringing all these home. She thought I should eat more healthy and had been trying to convert me for months. But what she didn't know, she couldn't lecture me over.

Slotted between the cakes, I spied a small card in the basket as I searched for another cake that had the chocolate buttons on top. I unfolded the note whilst taking a bite of my second cake. 'Ron, I hope you like these. If you were mine, I'd bake for you every day. All my love, Céleste xx.'

"Oh, urgh!" I exclaimed, jumping from my chair and grabbing the waste paper basket to spit the cake into. "Bleurgh...urgh!" I was wiping at my tongue, trying to get all the crumbs off and then paled when I realised I had already swallowed one of them.

"Are you all right? What's wrong?" Harry asked, standing over me, alarmed. "Mine tasted okay," he added, confused.

"Look at this," I handed him the note, feeling suddenly sick. I picked up the basket and dumped the whole lot into the bin, basket and all.

"Ah crap! So, the crazy bitch strikes again!" Harry nodded, handing the note back. I tossed it into the bin on top of the cakes.

"You ate one, yeah? Do you feel okay?" I wondered, looking up at him.

"Why? Do you think she poisoned them or something?"

"Worse," I shook my head. "I'm thinking love potion!" I groaned, my stomach now feeling worse than it had before.

"Shit!" Harry wrinkled his nose and then considered something for a minute. "I feel fine though, Not at all moony eyed over the weirdo or anything. Not like you that time!" he laughed, remembering when I'd accidentally taken love potion hidden in some chocolates meant for him in our sixth year.

"You're sure? No sudden uncontrollable feelings for her or anything? No desperate need to see her?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I reckon they were safe," he shrugged, looking sadly at the cakes now in the bin.

"I gave one to Neville, I should go check he's okay too," I added, grabbing the half empty mug of tea from Harry's desk and draining it in two gulps to clear the bad taste from my mouth. "And then I am going to go and throw up!" I added, racing off.

Thankfully, Neville was perfectly fine when I caught up with him. And, after finally grabbing something decent to eat (once I'd filled out my paperwork and checked in with Robards I managed to escape to the canteen to grab a sandwich) my stomach felt much better. Though, I had no regrets about throwing those cakes out at all. There was just something rather...freaky about someone you barely knew delivering a basket of home made cakes with a note like that!

* * *

 _Reviews feed hungry authors!_

 _And things really start to kick off next chapter!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Here's the next chapter. Thank you, as always, for the lovely reviews and I'm sorry I suck at replying to people these days. Good news for you is, if I'm not editing this story, then I am writing new stuff – so always busy!_

 _Usual disclaimers – I'm not JK Rowling, not making any money from this, I just play with her characters._

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

Wandering blindly out of the bathroom with a towel over my head, rubbing at my wet hair, I was surprised to find Hermione still up, sat alone on the sofa with a book on her lap. Both she and Harry had claimed they were going to bed before I went for a quick shower - I could already hear the snores coming from Harry in his room.

"Thought you were going to bed?" I asked, leaning over the back of the sofa to kiss the top of her head.

"I know," she rubbed her face. "I was going to, then I remembered I needed to read this book before work tomorrow. I want to read up on this case and make some notes," she explained, turning a page.

"Is this for your proposal thing?" I wondered, leaning on the sofa to read over her shoulder. I only had to read a couple of lines to know that book would send most normal people to sleep. Must remember to find it next time I had trouble sleeping!

"No, that's all handed in now. They've chosen five to take to the board and then they decide which one to go with for the year."

"And yours is one of the five?" I asked, knowingly.

"Yes," she smiled. "I'm hopeful. My boss said it was very well written and informative, but...Berry has gone with the much more popular unicorns, so I don't know," she sighed and grabbed her notepad beside her, tapping her quill against her lips, looking thoughtful before scribbling something down.

"Right," I drawled, pretending like I knew what she was on about. I gave a pretty good impression of that these days. "So, you coming to bed now?" I asked, straightening up and giving my hair one last rub before tossing the towel in the direction of the bathroom. It didn't quite reach, but I'd pick it up later.

"Not yet, I have a couple more chapters to read," she replied, already engrossed in it again.

I sighed heavily, my body slumping in disappointment. "But, I'm tired." I whined. "It's been a long day."

She turned her head and laughed at me. "Then go to bed, I'm not stopping you. Night." She tugged at my hand resting on the back of the couch to pull me down, gave me a quick kiss and turned back to her book.

"But," I pouted, "I don't want to go to bed without you."

"Ron, don't be pathetic, it doesn't become you. I'll join you soon," she muttered, scribbling down some more notes.

I sighed again. "Please?" I asked nicely, bending to kiss her neck. "Come on Hermione..." I murmured, kissing her again, lower this time.

"Ron," she grumbled, shrugging her shoulder to shove me away.

"You know you want to come cuddle up in bed with me," I added, playfully nipping at her earlobe. She pretended to ignore me, sighed and turned a page of her book as she stretched her legs out along the sofa. "Oh, come on, love," I tried again, my lips sliding down her neck and along her shoulder as I pulled her pyjama top aside. She smelt incredible as I inhaled her skin – of vanilla and strawberries from her shampoo.

She ignored me for a few further moments, allowing my lips to trail up and down her skin, my nose skimming her neck and I thought she was going to give in, to come to bed with me and we could kiss and then snuggle up together. I might be a complete and utter sap of a man to admit this, but I slept better when she was with me.

"Ron, stop it!" she told me firmly, slamming her book closed as my head shot up. "That is very distracting, not to mention annoying!" She turned to give me a glare. "I told you I need to read this book and that I will join you soon. So, if you're tired, just go to bed!" She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head before turning to pick up her book up with a disgruntled little huff.

I stood up, taking a step back from the couch and folded my arms. "Fine!" I huffed back, feeling pathetically hurt and rejected now. "I'm going to bed then. Goodnight!" I told her firmly and stomped off for my room, closing the door behind me with more force than was necessary.

Turning towards the bed, after dropping my towel from my hips, I saw that my pillow was already occupied – by a ball of ginger fluff. "Oi!" I snapped, taking my frustration out on her damn cat. "Off my bloody bed!" I stomped over to my side and poked the cat to get him to move. "Shove over, fuzzball!" I grumbled.

The cat gave me the same look his owner had given me, that look of irritation and pity. But, he did move off my pillow, only to curl up again in another spot on the bed. After pulling on a clean pair of boxers and T-shirt, I climbed in to bed, thumped my pillow a few times, brushed ginger fur off it and lay down with a huge yawn. I really was exhausted – I'd had to go into work a couple of hours earlier this morning to collect the damn prisoner with Neville, after all.

Finally getting comfy in bed, Crookshanks crawled closer and snuggled up to me. "Shove off you," I grumbled, half asleep. "It's your damn mistress I wanted to cuddle with, not you." I feebly tried to push him away, but the cat was a stubborn git and refused to move. "Fine, stay there then. Only, don't get all hissy when I kick you in my sleep," I warned him and rolled over. I was asleep shortly after that, snuggled up with her damn cat right next to me and I never even heard her come to bed.

* * *

Hermione wasn't in bed with me when I woke the next morning either and judging from her neat side of the bed, she had never joined me. I groaned to myself, not wanting to get up and wishing it was already Friday, or even better, Saturday morning so I could turn over and go back to sleep. I rolled onto my back, yawning and rubbing my face with my hands. Heaving a huge sigh after a couple of minutes, I resigned myself to the fact I had to get up and flung the sheets back – making the cat hiss and dart out from under them, having totally forgotten he was there.

"Serves you right!" I told him as he sat on the floor, looking up at me accusingly and wagging his bushy tail back and forth. "Bloody stupid cat," I muttered to myself as I wandered to the bathroom.

Hermione was already dressed and pouring tea when I managed to drag myself into the kitchen. "Morning," she called brightly, bouncing over to kiss my cheek. Harry sat at the table, eating his toast and ignored the pair of us.

"You didn't come to bed last night," I grumbled, sitting down at the table, head in my hands, still attempting to wake up.

"No," she began hesitantly. "I'm sorry, I fell asleep on the sofa," she admitted.

"All night?" I looked up at her.

"Yes," she nodded. "Besides, when I crept into your room to get dressed this morning, you looked perfectly cosy all snuggled up with Crookshanks," she chuckled. "It was very sweet."

"Stupid cat!" I mumbled. "Couldn't get rid of the bloody stubborn git," I complained, even though we all knew I was more fond of the damn thing than I ever used to be. We certainly got on better these days anyway.

"Now, Ron," she started, setting the tea pot back on the table. "I've told you before that he wouldn't sleep beside you if he didn't like you. You should take it as a compliment," she smiled. "Tea?" she asked kindly, offering me a cup.

I took it from her and reached for the sugar bowl. "What about my girlfriend? Does she like me if she won't sleep beside me?" I asked, sulkily. Okay, so I was still sore about being rejected last night.

She rolled her eyes and went to grab her toast that had just popped up. "Don't be so silly," she replied, returning to her seat at the table. "I simply nodded off on the sofa."

"Huh..." I muttered.

"Isn't it too early in the day for one of your domestics?" Harry asked.

"We're not having a domestic!" Hermione turned her glare on him at the same time as I told him in no friendly terms, to shut up!

"Fine!" he widened his eyes and held his hands up, before brushing crumbs from his shirt. "Should have learnt long ago to stay out of your...stuff," he mumbled to himself, taking his dishes to the sink before escaping the kitchen.

We sat in silence for awhile as she crunched her toast and I sipped my tea, debating what I wanted to eat. Brushing her fingers from crumbs, she glanced at me and frowned. "How come you're not dressed yet? I want to leave for work in five minutes."

"Five minutes?" I gulped some tea and checked the clock on the kitchen wall. "Give me a break woman. I've not even had any breakfast yet and you don't need to be there for another half an hour!"

"Yes, I know," she began as she slathered her last slice of toast in marmalade. "But I wanted to get in early and find some books from the library to help with the research I started last night," she explained, between bites of toast, seemingly in a hurry.

"Well," I got up to find some cereal. "I'm not ready yet, so you'll just have to wait for me."

She huffed, rather loudly and scowled in my direction. "I am perfectly capable of taking myself to work. I don't need some man protecting me," she scoffed.

"Some man?" I gawked at her. "In case you forgot, this man," I pointed to myself, "is your boyfriend and excuse me for wanting to make sure you're safe!" I sat back at the table, slamming my mug down and grimacing when I spilled some of the tea.

"Well, I.."

A cough from the doorway interrupted what ever she'd been about to say. "I'm ready to go," Harry spoke up, "so I can go in with you, if you want?" he offered, probably just hoping he'd defer an argument before it really began.

"Great, thanks Harry." She smiled sweetly at him. "Let me just grab my stuff," she patted his shoulder and darted from the room.

I rolled my eyes and drained my cup of tea. First she doesn't come to bed with me, now she goes off to work without me - what had I done now? Had I forgotten something? I sat and puzzled over any random anniversary or promise I hadn't remembered, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Right, I'm ready," she returned in the doorway, with a very heavy looking bag over her shoulder – most likely stuffed with a dozen or so books. Normally I'd act all gallant and carry it for her, not this morning.

"Okay," Harry nodded, pulling his cloak on and shooting me a shifty look, sensing I was pissed off.

"Hang on!" I stood up before she left, watching Harry head for the fireplace "We're erm, we're still meeting for lunch right? As usual?" I cringed at how whiny my voice sounded then, desperate for some reassurance.

"Yes Ron, I'll meet you for lunch as usual," she nodded, giving me a soft smile before skipping over to kiss my cheek. "I'll see you later," she waved before the pair of them left via the floo.

I watched them go, then heaved a heavy sigh before returning to finish my breakfast.

* * *

When lunchtime finally came around, I hurried to Hermione's office wanting to see her and yet full of anxiety because I was so utterly convinced that I had done something wrong and upset her somehow and I didn't want us to spend our entire lunch break fighting about it. But I was going to have to ask her what was wrong - other than all this protection stuff she was frustrated with and deemed totally unnecessary. I know she hated me treating her like some weak damsel in distress and I knew she was only giving in to my demands to stop me going on about it. But, we'd been through too much, knew too much, for me to take any risks with someone I loved.

I found Hermione's desk empty when I finally skidded to a halt in her department. "Damn!" I muttered to myself, checking my watch. I was only 10 minutes late, thanks to bloody Robards calling me into his office. But, surely she hadn't gone off without me because of a bad mood? "Hey," I called across to one of her colleague's who I'd spoken to a handful of times. "Have you seen Hermione?" I asked him, strolling towards his desk.

"Huh?" he glanced back where she usually sat. "Oh, she must have left for lunch already," he shrugged unhelpfully.

"Actually, I heard her say she was going to the library." A woman added herself to the conversation. "She went about, oh...15 minutes ago."

"Great, thanks!" I smiled and raced off to find her. Should have known really – can't find Hermione? Look for the nearest library or book store! And, knowing her as I did, I knew she would still be in there, adrift in the sea of books.

Only, when I got there, I checked down each aisle – twice, just to be sure and asked a couple of people if they had seen her, but there was no sign. One bored looking lad, who sat at a desk piled high with books told me he'd been there all day and only a couple of other people had been in – neither of which had been Hermione. Great! Now what?

I left the library, rubbing my forehead, wondering what to do. If she was waiting for me somewhere and I didn't turn up, it would only piss her off more and I'd be in even more trouble. I thought back to this morning's conversation and the plans we'd made...meeting as usual? Hmm, I wonder if we'd both misunderstood one another and she was waiting for me on the street in Muggle areas, where we used to meet before all this business started. I suppose I had to check, didn't I?

So, I spent another lunch break standing on a street corner in the freezing cold, as wet snow soaked me through to my skin, and no Hermione. I checked the café we usually went to - no Hermione. By this time my mood had plummeted and I was fed up. I was also cold, wet and hungry and starting to worry. After a few more minutes, I headed back to the Ministry – I still had 15 minutes of my lunch break left. I grabbed a sandwich from a kiosk in the atrium on my way back and it was just my rotten luck that all they had left was bloody corned beef - I can't stand corned beef! But, I was so hungry I decided beggars couldn't be choosers.

I popped into her office again, but they said she hadn't been back. Poked my head back into the library on my way past, the same lad who looked as though he may have been dozing off on a pile of books said no one had been in since I left last time. He seemed annoyed with me for disturbing him. So, feeling defeated, I headed back to my own office, throwing my horrible sandwich down when I reached my desk, sitting down in a sulk.

"Thought you were meeting Hermione?" Harry asked me when he returned from his own lunch, still sipping a cup of tea. I was still trying to choke down this sandwich – having tossed out most of the filling and just eating the bread.

"So did I," I grumbled.

Harry gave me a look as he sat down again. "Didn't turn up?" he asked.

I shrugged, giving up on the bread and tossing that into the bin as well. "I can't find her. Spent most of my lunch running all over the place looking for her," I explained.

"Well, that's strange." He raised an eyebrow.

"I know," I huffed and leant back in my chair, raising the front two legs off the floor. I was still cold and hadn't dried out yet and now my stomach was recoiling from that bloody sandwich as I started to worry about her. "You don't think…"

"Still, you two did get into it this morning," he commented as he sat back at his desk and pulled some files towards him. "She's probably just in a bad mood and making you suffer or something," he shrugged.

"This morning? That was nothing!" I scoffed. "I mean, we've had much worse. Wait!" Something he said had been strange. "Did she say something to you? About me, I mean?"

Harry squirmed in his chair and pretended as though he was searching for something in his drawer. He was a useless bloody liar – always had been.

"Harry! What did she say?" I demanded, leaning over his desk now.

He sighed. "Fine, she just said, in passing, that she thought you were getting obsessively paranoid about wanting to protect her. And that you were treating her as though she were some pathetic little girl, not someone who had helped win a bloody war. Or, erm...words to that effect." He grimaced, knowing I wasn't going to like that.

"Well, that's just fan'fuckin'tastic!" I threw my hands in the air. "You try to act chivalrous and protect the ones you love, because you couldn't bare to lose them, and you just get it thrown right back in your face! Charming!"

"Yes Ron, but this is Hermione remember? She gets pissed at the mere mention that women can't do what men can or they can't take care of themselves. She's strong enough to take the both of us on, and you know it!"

"Of course I bloody know that! But I also know damn well there is some freaky shit out there who don't care who they hurt or how and I don't want that happening to her. So, is it so wrong for me to care about her now?" I asked, pissed off with Harry, even though I knew he wasn't really the cause for my bad mood.

"No, I'm not saying that. But, I do know that Ginny would probably kick my arse if I tried to pull the same shit, and..."

"Oh, forget it!" I pushed myself away from his desk. "I'm going to get some tea," I decided and stormed off to the break room, muttering to myself.

I didn't get much work, if any, done the rest of the day. I suppose it didn't help that I kept nipping back to the break room to find more of those biscuits I had stolen earlier along with further cups of tea. Hey, I was hungry! Plus, I always ate when I was pissed off or anxious. Right now I was a mix of both!

Yes, I was pissed off because I had been stood up for lunch and I had spent the majority of my break running around looking for her. But, mostly I was pissed off because of what she'd told Harry. I suppose at least I now knew what it was I had done to annoy her! Was my wanting her to be safe really demeaning to her? Was I pulling some macho shit here? I just thought someone or something dangerous was after her and that we should err on the side of caution.

I was well aware of how strong and powerful she was. There weren't many spells, jinxes or hexes she hadn't mastered. And, I knew that she was an independent force to be reckoned with a lot of the time. Most women were in my life – you didn't grow up with my Mum or my sister and not be aware of strong women! Of course Hermione was perfectly capable of taking care of herself - I had fought beside her in a bloody war after all! But, none of us had gone into that blindly or alone and none of us were unbreakable.

What was so wrong with me suggesting we be sensible and cautious? Why take risks when a threat was made? I knew, through both personal experience and my Auror training, exactly what sick, sadistic things these dangerous people did and I didn't want anything bad to happen again. I wanted to keep her safe, probably for selfish reasons because I loved her and didn't want to live without her.

That was all there was to it. If that was wrong, then you'd better lock me up in Azkaban right now because I was never going to stop wanting to protect those I love.

But, beneath all the inner turmoil that I may have pissed off my girlfriend simply by caring too much, I was starting to worry about her. What if something had happened? She had told me she'd meet me as usual, and then hadn't – that wasn't like Hermione. Well, not unless she lost track of time as she absorbed yet more facts and figures in her books and research or something. But since I hadn't found her doing either of those things at her desk or in the library, I didn't know where else she could be.

The second the clock ticked around to the end of my shift, I was gone, barely giving Harry a parting glance. I was desperate to get to her office, find her safely, get home and then talk about what she'd told Harry. Okay, maybe I wasn't so desperate to talk about that, but I did want to get home and at least clear the air between us and hopefully then manage to have a nice night in together.

But, I could see from the entrance to the department that she still wasn't at her desk. I sighed, letting my head fall back, hoping this wasn't a bad sign. "Hey Ron," someone to my left spoke to me.

I looked up warily, expecting to find Céleste hovering around me again, but it was another colleague, someone I had spoken to a few times, especially in the last couple of weeks that I'd been regularly meeting Hermione after work. I think her name was Phoebe. She was busy flicking through files in a huge cabinet.

"Hey, erm, do you know if Hermione come back after lunch?" I asked.

She looked up, her hand paused in her place in the cabinet as she glanced back towards Hermione's desk, seemingly surprised to see she wasn't there. "Oh, I'm not sure," she frowned as she thought about it. "Come to think of it, I can't remember seeing her all afternoon." She shrugged and looked back at the cabinet, found what she was looking for after a couple more flicks and shut it with a bump from her hip.

"Great," I sighed. "When did you last see her?" I wondered.

She paused, juggling the files she's just taken out as she considered my question. "I remember seeing her this morning. She was in before me and offered me some tea when she went to make one."

"So, you haven't seen her since early this morning?" I asked, dread filling me.

She shrugged again and offered me a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I've been busy," she held up the files as though to prove it. "Hey, Jeremy," she called across to a bloke sat a couple of desks away. "You seen Hermione this afternoon?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "Not since before lunch. You still not found her?" he asked, and I remembered I had spoken to him at lunch.

"No," I hissed through clenched teeth. This was getting ridiculous.

"I wouldn't worry," he smiled and shared a look with Phoebe. "Hermione often disappears to the library to research something and we don't see her for the rest of the day!" he laughed. "Used to annoy Horton but, she's accepted that's how Hermione works now and that she stills gets her work done."

"Yeah, I know. But, I went to the library and she wasn't there," I groaned and ran a hand through my hair, hoping the sinking feeling in my stomach was nothing more than hunger.

"Maybe you just missed each other?" Phoebe suggested with a polite smile as she passed by me "Sorry, but I have to get these to Horton," she held up the files and hurried away.

"I wouldn't worry mate, Hermione probably just headed home already," Jeremy added, finishing up what he was working on. "Which is where I'm going," he added, grabbing his cloak from the back of his chair and flicking off his lamp.

"Yeah. Right. Thanks," I muttered, following him from their department, not feeling any easier about any of this. Since I was still here, I decided to check the library again and even asked if there was another library within the Ministry. There wasn't. I checked the canteen, the legal offices, even went to my Dad's office as I knew she sometimes called in to see him. But, he wasn't in work today. I checked everywhere I could think of, including asking women to check the ladies loos for me that I passed on my way. No one had seen her and she was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, I went home, hoping she'd be there waiting with some stern expression on her face. All ready to argue with me about how I had stood her up for lunch and how I never listened to her. But, I arrived back to a silent flat – not even Harry was here.

"Hermione?" I asked, uselessly. Nothing. And a quick glance around told me that no one had been here since I had left this morning – my breakfast bowl still sat on the kitchen table where I had left it!

I slumped into a chair, wondering what I should do now. Did I stay here and hope she'd just gone shopping or perhaps to a Muggle library and would be home any moment? Or did I go out searching for her some more? I knew what my gut told me...that I had to find her. I also knew what Harry had suggested, she was avoiding me because she was in a bad mood with me. But, I knew Hermione, perhaps better than anyone these days. Sulking over a silly row or because she was annoyed with me just wasn't her thing. She'd have it out with me, tell me I was being a prat, we'd argue and then we'd make up and things would be fine.

People didn't understand that – us arguing and bickering over nothing. They thought it spelt trouble for us, that it meant we were not at all suited and wouldn't last. But, it worked for us, since we were both passionate and stubborn people we didn't let things fester between us too long or cause issues because we argued and cleared the air and then had lots of fun making up.

Heaving a sigh, I knew what I had to do and pulled myself out of my chair. I couldn't just sit here wallowing and becoming increasingly worried about her – I had to be doing something. I had to search absolutely everywhere I could think of before I started to panic.

Figuring I'd may as well start with the closest location, I hurried downstairs to the shop where George was just closing up. "George!" I gasped, grabbing his shoulder.

"Little brother!" George beamed at me, patting me on the back.

"Hello little brother," Fred's portrait on the wall echoed and waved at me. I only glanced up at it briefly because, to be honest, it kind of gave me the creeps. But, George was just finding himself again, so I wasn't going to say anything.

"How did you know?" George flung his arm around my shoulders.

"How did I...what now?" I frowned, not having a clue what he was getting at.

"That I needed you of course." With his arm still around my shoulders he began to lead me into the stock room in the back. "You do have a few minutes, right?"

"I...what?" I blinked at him and then shoved his arm off me. "No, I do not have a few minutes. I'm in a hurry."

"Ooh, he's in a hurry!" my portrait 'brother' scoffed.

"Aaw, come on, I have some re-stocking to do that I could use a hand with," he protested, trying to lead me forwards again. "And it will only take us a few minutes if we do it together."

"No! George...wait." I pulled him to a stop. "Have you seen Hermione at all? Like, maybe she walked past, shopping in the alley or something?" I asked hopefully.

George acted as though he was thinking about it, stroking the new facial hair he was currently growing. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or he just couldn't be bothered to shave, but I knew Mum disliked it. Then his eyes lit up and I knew he was about to take the piss out of me. He patted me on the back. "Aaw, you two been fighting again? Run off has she?" he laughed.

"No, it's not like that. I just, I can't find her and I'm starting to wo..."

"Oh, she'll come back. Women do this stuff," he shrugged, unconcerned. "I reckon it's to make us men feel guilty, then make us grovel for forgiveness and spoil them. A little trick of there's," he nodded, as though he was some highly experienced gigolo.

I squinted my eyes at him, wondering if he was for real and then shook my head. "Look, George, I'm serious. I..."

"So am I little bro," he cut me off again. "Come on, help me out with this stock and leave her to stew a bit longer. She'll appreciate you even more when you turn up then."

I rolled my eyes and heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't have time for your rubbish. See ya George." I brushed past him and sprinted back upstairs. Well, that had been useless and a waste of five minutes. I paced in the living room as I tried to think where else to look for her. Her parents! I decided, realizing that should have been my first visit - it was obvious she'd want to visit her parents. With that in mind, I turned on the spot, visualising their back garden and Disapparated.

"Ron?" Her Dad looked wary when he opened the back door to me. "Erm, this is a surprise." He seemed confused, yet invited me in.

"Thank you," I smiled, trying to remember my manners and hide my growing panic. "I, erm...I was actually looking for Hermione. She's not here is she?" I asked, hopeful.

"Oh. No, she's not," he replied, leading me into the lounge where his wife was watching that, erm...the velytision thing that Muggles were so fond of.

"Who was at the door dear? Oh...hello Ron," she smiled and pointed a little box at the velytision, which seemed to make it go quieter whilst I tried to work out what the hell was happening on it – someone was running around what looked to be a shop with a massive banana. Muggles were bloody weird sometimes!

"Hi," I smiled eventually, dragging my eyes from the weirdness on the screen.

"He's looking for Hermione actually." Her dad smirked at her and I knew what he was thinking.

"You don't know where she is?" Her mother looked concerned.

"Erm, no, well you see, she erm, we..." I stammered.

"Had a row?" Her dad laughed once and patted my back as though sympathising with me. Why the bloody hell did everyone assume that we'd just had a fight and why did they all find it amusing? None of this was funny. "She'll be back, son."

"No, that's not it. We, we're fine. I just, I can't find her." My shoulders slumped as I admitted that.

"You can can't find her?" Her mum stood up. "Well, where can she be? Is something going on? I know Hermione told us there was something going on at work, some security breech that meant it was best for her to stay in the Magical world for a bit, but..."

"Oh, erm, no." I tried to think fast – the last thing I wanted to do was upset her parents and get them all in a panic as well. "I probably just misunderstood her plans. I probably wasn't listening or something," I gave a very fake chuckle, but hoped it sounded convincing. After all, Hermione was often moaning that I didn't listen!

"Are you sure?" Her dad looked at me strange, sounding a little troubled himself now. Maybe it was just for my sanity.

"Oh, yeah," I waved my hand around airily. "Happens all the time. I should probably go, I mean, she's probably waiting for me at home and I'll be in trouble," I attempted another chuckle, this time convincing no one. "I'll, erm, I'll see you soon." I smiled and turned to leave.

Her Dad started to walk me out. "Ron, wait," her Mum called, following slowly after us. "I'm a little concerned. Will you get her to give me a call? When you find her?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," I nodded and forced a smile. "I'll tell her. But, don't worry, sure she's fine," I added, stepping out the back door and wandering down the garden path, mentally kicking myself for making a huge cock-up of that one!

I tried to think where else she could have gone, slowly running out of options. I suppose she could have gone to visit my own parents. So, with that thought in mind, I disapparated from the Granger's back garden directly into my Mum's kitchen.

Mum shrieked when I suddenly appeared in front of her. Well, how was I to know she would be stood in that exact spot? "Ronald!" she chastised me, flipping me with her tea towel.

"Sorry. I..." I began to explain the reason for my sudden visit, but she cut me off.

"Out of my way, my pie is going to burn." She shooed me away and bent to retrieve her pie from the oven. "I've got Bill and Fleur coming over for dinner shortly - she's getting big now, bless her. And..."

"Mum, have you seen Hermione?" I cut in before she started rambling on about something else.

She set the pie carefully on the table and turned to stir something in one of the pans on the hob before she turned to look at me again. "Hermione? No, love. Not since last Sunday when you all came for dinner. Why?"

"I can't find her," I sighed, my shoulder slumping. "I've looked all over and..."

"Another row?" She raised an eyebrow knowingly. "Oh Ronnie..."

"No! Why the hell does everyone always assume that? We didn't fight, she just..."

"Then I'm sure she'll be back soon. The girl loves you and then you can make up," she smiled and patted my cheek, rather distracted it seemed.

I almost growled with exasperation, but I didn't have time to convince my Mum that my relationship was perfectly fine before I even began to explain why I was looking everywhere for Hermione. "Well, if she's not here, then I'd best keeping looking," I muttered, trying to think where else I could try.

"Why don't you stay for dinner, love? There's plenty, and, you are looking rather skinny. Not so easy looking after yourself now, is it?" she chuckled, returning to her cooking on the stove, whilst the table set itself from a quick flick of her wand over her shoulder. I don't know how she did it – I tried that once and lost an entire set of plates when the lot smashed!

"I can't Mum. I have to go. I'll see you soon." I kissed her cheek and left the cosiness of my childhood kitchen before she pestered me further into staying.

I hadn't really been thinking of anywhere in particular when I Disapparated, so I was rather surprised to find myself in my sister's dorm room at the training camp for the Harpies. I suppose I had been thinking of my childhood and the hours spent in the garden with Ginny as I'd left my parents – I guess that would explain it.

During Quidditch season, Ginny spent her week days at the camp, ready for practice and meetings with the coach at any time. Any weekend they didn't have a match she came home and split her time between our flat or at home with my parents. Not that I'm perfectly sure Mum was aware of that little fact.

At that moment, Ginny stepped back into her room, wearing nothing but a towel and screamed when she saw me. "What the bloody hell Ron?" she slapped me and tugged her towel a little tighter with her other hand. I thought myself lucky she wasn't currently holding her wand – otherwise I was quite sure I would be dealing with a bat bogey hex right about now. "Get out! Out! I'm not dressed!" she yelled at me, shoving me towards the door.

I held my ground so she couldn't budge me. "Just one minute, this won't take long," I assured her, clamping a hand over my eyes. I didn't need to see my sister in nothing but a tiny towel. "Have you seen Hermione?" I asked.

"What? Why the hell do you think I would have seen her? What would she come here for?"

"I just, I can't find her and I've looked everywhere and," I exhaled deeply. "I'm starting to worry," I admitted out loud for the first time.

"Ron, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." She spoke from behind the opened wardrobe door she was hiding behind, searching for some clothes before throwing a dress onto the bed. "She'll be home soon, probably already is home whilst you're running around looking everywhere."

"Yeah, but..."

"Look, I don't really have time to listen to your relationship woes right now. Everything will be fine, Hermione can look after herself. Now, if you don't mind. I need to get dressed!" She slammed the wardrobe door closed and glared at me.

"Fine. I'm going," I snapped and left, arriving home a second later.

The flat was still in darkness, so no one had returned home in my absence. I was pretty much out of options now - she really didn't go to that many places I realised. I mean, Hermione didn't have any other close friends she'd drop in on – people at work were okay with her now, but none she would call a real friend. There was Luna of course, but I couldn't imagine her calling in on her just for a chat. I suppose she could be anywhere in Muggle London, which meant I would never find her if I went out there.

I grabbed a pumpkin pasty from the fridge, suddenly starving, and then decided to go check out the Leaky just in case. Unsurprisingly, there was no sign of her and Hannah told me she hadn't seen her for days. Since I was close by, I wandered down to Flourish and Blotts, knowing she often lost track of time over any new books in the shop. But it was already closed.

Returning home, feeling dejected, I fell onto the couch and hugged a cushion. I didn't know what else to do. I had looked everywhere I could think of and I was actually feeling rather dizzy from all the Disapparating around I'd been doing. I suppose the only thing I could do now was wait here and hope she returned home soon, safe and sound, full of apologies and more than willing to make up.

I didn't realise how long I had been sat there or that I was sat in total darkness, until there was the loud pop of someone Apparating into the room and I couldn't see who it was through the gloom. Taking my Deluminator from my pocket - something I always had handy - I clicked it and light spilled into the lamps either end of the couch.

"Fuck! Ron!" Harry yelped, stumbling in surprise from the sudden light.

"Sorry," I mumbled, my voice scratchy from having been sat in quiet for seemingly hours.

"I didn't see you there, thought you must be in bed. Why were you sitting in the dark?" he wondered.

"Harry," I began, sitting up straighter on the sofa and giving him an intense stare. "I think something is seriously wrong."

* * *

 _More coming soon...only about 4 more chapters to go!_

 _Remember, reviews make me smile! They're the only decent emails I get these days!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you, as always, for all the kind reviews and for all the follows – very much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed my last chapter. Here's the next one...the drama continues!_

 _Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling. I make no money from this (so the small fortune I spent on more HP merchandise the other day stings!) and no matter how much I wish, the Wizarding World isn't mine :(_

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Harry stared at me for a long, silent moment with an incredulous expression on his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hermione!" I blurted out her name. "I can't find her anywhere and..."

"She still hasn't turned up?" he asked, raising one eyebrow in surprise.

"That's what I just bloody said, isn't it?" I was worried and angry and needed to take out my frustration on someone. Harry was about to receive the brunt of it. "I've looked everywhere I can think of. Asked everyone I ran into and no one has seen her at all. She's been missing since about 11am now," I muttered, still sulkily clutching the cushion to my chest.

"Ron..." he began, in that tone that told me he was about to try and reassure me that everything was perfectly fine – the way everyone else had done that day. Yet, I hadn't felt one bit reassured by anyone whatsoever.

"Where have you been anyway?" I cut in before he got started. It had just dawned on me that he'd been gone all night whilst I'd been running around like a headless dragon searching for her by myself.

He shot me that look again. "I was working late, if you must know. Then I went over to see Ginny, we went out for dinner," he explained. "She has a game coming up this weekend, so it's my only chance to see her before then."

"Oh," I muttered, realising now why my sister had been in such a hurry to shove me from her room in order to get dressed – she'd had a date.

"Listen, Ron," Harry perched on the arm of the chair opposite me. "I'm sure Hermione's fine. She probably just needs some space and she's gone off to think. She'll be back when she's ready and then the two of you can make up. Just don't forget the silencing charm," he laughed.

"This isn't funny Harry!" I scowled at him. "And, do you really think that's Hermione's style to go off and sulk when we fall out? Do you not know her at all?" I shot back. Why the hell did everyone assume this was because we'd had a few words? That argument this morning had been nothing. Hadn't even been an argument really – that was just the way we spoke to each other sometimes, didn't mean anything.

"Yeah, I know her. Which is why I remember her going off to sulk when she first found you snogging Lavender," he reminded me.

"Bickering over nonsense at breakfast is hardly the same thing as unintentionally breaking her 17 year old heart by kissing another girl!" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Well, how about when you accused her cat of killing your rat? You two barely spoke for weeks." He came up with another example.

"Crookshanks and me are fine these days," I muttered.

"Or," he tried to think of something else, just to prove his point. "Remember when you returned to the tent, during the hunt? She was angry with you for days!" He gave a small nod as though that proved he was right.

I sighed, running a hand through my messy hair. "This isn't like that. Besides, back then she yelled at me and let me know how pissed off she was. _That_ is Hermione's style – she yells at me and lets me know what a prat I've been, then maybe gives me the silent treatment. She doesn't just go off and sulk. I know something is wrong Harry!" I was desperate for him to take me seriously.

Harry sighed and took his glasses off to rub at his eyes. "Fine, I still think she's okay. But, if she's not back in the morning, then I'll help you track her down, okay?" he offered.

"Do you know something?" I suddenly wondered if he was hiding something because he seemed so calm about his best friend missing and utterly convinced that she'd just gone off somewhere. Had she told him that she was planning this? "Did she say anything else to you?"

"No. Honestly!" He held up his hands when he saw I didn't believe him. "I haven't a clue where she is. But, it wouldn't surprise me if she's not at her parents that she's just gone off to a hotel for the night or something."

"She's definitely not at her parents. And her going to a hotel makes no bloody sense," I muttered, scratching my own head. Why would she do that without telling me, knowing I'd worry? Especially with things that had been going on recently.

Harry patted my shoulder. "Women rarely do mate!" he chuckled and got up from the chair, trudging down the hallway.

"Where you going?" I asked him.

"To bed," he turned and looked at me as though the answer was obvious. "It's late and I'm tired."

I hadn't even noticed how late it was. For the past few hours my mind had been totally consumed with worry over Hermione – I hadn't eaten or showered or anything – just sat here working myself up more and more until I felt sick. I was suddenly filled with an intense fury that Harry didn't seem to share my feelings at all. "How can you even think about sleep when Hermione is missing?" I shot back.

Harry rolled his eyes, obviously tired of me going on about it. "Because she's probably fast asleep herself and perfectly safe in some fancy hotel room right now. Listen, go get some sleep," he told me. "You'll find her tomorrow," he yawned.

I just stared at him, dumbfounded, wondering if he'd always been this callous. "I thought she was one of your best mates!" I yelled, my temper rising. "Don't you even care that she might be hurt or that someone could have taken her, or...or..."

"Ron, you're getting yourself worked up about nothing mate." He returned to my side and patted my shoulder. "Of course I care about her, but," he paused, looking as though he was trying to decide whether or not to tell me something. "Look, she made me promise not to tell you, because she knows you'll take it the wrong way, but she did say something this morning about needing a bit of a break."

"What?" I yelled, standing up, the cushion dropping to the floor unnoticed. "Why the fuck didn't you say something before?" I could have happily punched him right then.

"Because I promised her, and because I knew you'd react like this." He sighed as he sat down again, realising he wasn't going to get to bed any time yet.

"Well, what is that supposed to mean?" I asked, my voice sounding, even to my own ears, rather sulky. I sat back on the sofa, thinking the worst – did she want to break up with me?

"Not what you're thinking, which is why she wouldn't mention it to you – she knows what you're like. She just thought that with you keeping such a close eye on her and being together all the time, it was causing tension and she was feeling a little stifled. She assured me nothing has changed with your relationship or how she feels about you. Just, everyone needs a bit of space sometimes, right?"

"Then why didn't she talk to me about that?" I sulked, picking up the cushion, feeling hurt and alone all of a sudden.

He shrugged. "Like I said, women rarely make sense."

"Humph," I grunted in response. That wasn't an answer.

Harry sat there, quietly watching me for awhile, probably wishing he could get up and go to bed and just leave me be. But something made him stay, to check that I was all right.

"So, she told you she was planning on running off for the night, did she?" I asked him.

He frowned and scratched his head. "No, actually she didn't mention anything about any plans. Just what I've already told you, she thought you were being a bit too much."

"See!" I held my hands out, palm up on my knees, "that's why none of this make sense. I mean, she knows I've been worried about whatever is threatening her, so why would she run off, leaving work in the middle of the day, and let me get myself into a panic about where she is? She'd at least send me an owl or something."

"Maybe she didn't want you finding her?" he suggested, standing up. "I'm sure she's fine." He touched my shoulder as he stepped past me.

"And maybe something bad has happened and we're wasting bloody time sitting here talking about shit!" I snapped at him.

"For Merlin's sake Ron, I'm sure there is nothing to be worried about. She just went somewhere for some time alone and she'll be back soon."

"And, if she's not?" I asked, looking up at him sadly.

"If she's not, then we'll go find her. And I'll help, promise." He wandered off, heading for his bedroom again.

After his door closed, I was tempted to throw the cushion I was clutching at it. Stupid jerk! Why wouldn't anyone take me seriously? No matter what he'd told me she'd admitted to him or what everyone assumed about this being nothing more than a lover's tiff, I had this gut feeling it was much more and much worse. I stood up then, determined to go look for her myself, to do something other than just sitting here.

But then I sat down with a hard thud again. What was I going to do? Search every bloody hotel in London? That would take a lifetime and be a complete waste of time anyway because I was sure she wasn't there. Something sinister had happened and I needed someone to take me seriously, to discus this the way we would a mission. Someone who would start making plans the way we had back at Hogwarts and then go and bloody well find her!

Ironically, I realised that the one person who would listen to me about my instincts and take me seriously was Hermione. I knew she'd help and start making plans if I thought someone was in trouble.

And, in that moment, I had never missed her more.

* * *

I slept in fits and starts. Tossing and turning on the sofa, unable to rest with all the thoughts choking my mind. Horrific nightmares of Hermione being kidnapped or something and reminders of her torture back at Malfoy Manor haunted me. Unpleasant images of her leaving me, telling me I was suffocating her with my love taunted me – the nightmares and bad dreams becoming mixed up together until I didn't know what was real or imagined.

I woke in a panic with a sudden start, sitting upright on the couch, my hand outstretched towards something or someone as I called Hermione's name in a panic.

Taking a deep breath and blinking, I looked around the murkiness of the room, surprised to find myself in the lounge, alone. I could have sworn I had heard her voice calling me, begging me for help and screaming in pain. And now I was going insane – great!

I inhaled deeply as I buried my face in my hands and scrubbed my bleary eyes awake. The sun was starting to rise, casting the room in that faint warmth of early dawn. I checked the clock on the mantel, it was nearing six in the morning and quite obviously, Hermione wasn't back.

I scrambled from the sofa, hurrying to my room just to check – but the bed was still made, only Crookshanks slept curled up in the middle, not seeming to mind that his mistress wasn't around and rather enjoying having my bed to himself. A quick visit to the loo was needed and I splashed my face at the sink after relieving myself, trying to wash away the memories from the nightmares once again.

I was done with waiting around, pretending everything was okay. I was going to look for her and find out exactly what had happened and that git I shared a flat with was going to help me. With that, I crashed into Harry's bedroom, kicking his bed to wake him. "Get up!" I told him.

He muttered something at me, groaning groggily.

"I've waited long enough, I _know_ something has happened, something bad. I'm not being neurotic or joking around here Harry. We need to find her and we need to go now!" I finished with another kick to the bed and went back to the lounge, pacing back and forth as I waited for him.

He stumbled from his bedroom a couple of minutes later, still pushing his glasses onto his face and yawning as he scratched his stomach. "What the hell is going on Ron?"

"Get dressed! We're going to search for Hermione," I told him.

"She's not back or been in touch?" he realised.

"No. And, I know you'll laugh, but I had this dream. I just, I _know_ something has happened to her. Can't you just trust my instincts or at least humour me about this? I am seriously worried and we need to find her."

Harry yawned again and knuckled his eye. "Okay, fine, Just, give me five minutes," he mumbled, turning towards the bathroom. "You might want to get changed yourself," he suggested before closing his door.

I looked down at myself then, startled to realise I was still wearing the robes I'd gone to work in yesterday – now all wrinkled from sleeping in them. Deciding he was right, I raced into my room, threw off yesterday's clothes and pulled on a clean pair of boxers, jeans and a T-shirt. Crookshanks meowed and sauntered over to me as I sat on the bed pulling my shoes on, nudging my arm with his fat head.

"Don't worry buddy, we'll find her," I promised him with a tickle behind the ears. "We'll bring her back." The cat meowed at me again and hopped off the bed, looking back with a glare before leading me into the kitchen. I then remembered I hadn't fed the poor beast and knew Hermione would be furious with me if she knew I'd let her cat starve all night.

"So, where to?" Harry asked from the kitchen doorway as I set a bowl of food down on the floor for Crookshanks.

"The Ministry," I decided, grabbing my jacket as Harry pulled his on. "That was the last place she was seen. We can start there."

Harry nodded in agreement and we each took the floo, heading for the Ministry.

* * *

Seconds later I was stalking through the Atrium, marching on ahead with determination to find my girlfriend safely. Right now, that was the only thing on my mind. Harry, instead, dawdled behind me, still yawning and then insisted on stopping to buy coffee from the kiosk that was just opening up. "Come on mate, I'll be no use without it," he muttered, seeing the look of chagrin I gave him as he handed over his coins. He picked two cups up then and handed me one. I took a sip of the caffeine filled hot liquid and I realised he was right – I needed the boost too.

We sipped our drinks whilst waiting for the elevator and deciding where to go first. I wanted to check out her office before her colleague's arrived – this early in the morning the Ministry was still ominously quiet.

"Where do we begin looking?" Harry asked me, throwing his now empty coffee cup away as we exited the lift on the fourth floor.

"Her desk. Hopefully it's as she left it and there might be some clues or something," I replied, already heading in the direction I was familiar with, leaving Harry trailing behind again.

Thankfully, being Aurors, we had access to just about anywhere within the Ministry. That is apart from most areas within the Department of Mysteries and by appointment only in the Ministers private chambers, of course. So, wandering unannounced into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures didn't seem so strange. I moved around Hermione's desk, scanning it with my keen eye first.

"What are we looking for?" Harry asked, eyeing her desk too.

I shrugged. "Anything," I replied, sitting down in her chair and looking through the books and files that had been left open as though she'd merely stepped away from her work for a moment – that in itself was strange to me. There was a document half written on the revised rules and regulations for keeping a Crup as a pet amidst the Muggle population. All rather boring and not the least bit helpful.

Harry was on the floor, going through her bin – which seemed a good idea I decided. He was sat straightening out screwed up balls of parchment and trying to put together torn pieces. I rummaged in the desk drawers - though what I was looking for I didn't know, I was merely hoping there was something that might help. Slamming one drawer closed caused some stacked books to topple over, almost knocking a left over mug of cold tea. I grabbed it quick before it fell off the desk, right into Harry's lap and as I did, I caught a whiff of the brew.

I took a closer sniff, realising it didn't smell like regular tea or any of the herbal concoctions my girlfriend sometimes drank. I thought I detected something in it. Something...ominous that shouldn't be there. "Hey, Harry," I got his attention, "just take a sniff of this, tell me what you smell," I offered him the mug.

Harry sniffed and wrinkled his nose and quickly pulled back. "I'm not sure, regular tea, but with traces of...lavender and," he sniffed it again, "is that valerian?"

I nodded, taking the mug back from him. "Exactly what I thought. Common ingredients for a sleeping draught?" I asked his opinion.

"Merlin! You're right!" he gasped. "But why would..."

"Someone drugged her," I answered his unfinished question. My heart plummeted. I think part of me had been hoping that she _had_ just gone off for some space or whatever – at least then she'd be okay. This was the evidence I needed to prove she's been taken. "Someone slipped this into her tea and took her."

"Shit!" Harry cursed, finally taking me seriously.

There were no other clues at her desk, her desk drawers were all orderly. Besides the pile of books and paperwork on her desk, everything was lined up methodically – I wouldn't have expected anything less from Hermione. Harry tossed the last piece of rubbish back into the bin.

"Nothing here," he sighed.

"So, all we know so far is that someone must have sedated her with a mild sleeping draught. We need to find out exactly what time she left the office if anyone saw her and whether she left with anyone," I decided, taking a fresh sheet of parchment and using one of her quills to begin making a list.

"Maybe we should come back when her colleague's are here?" Harry suggested. "We can question them and..."

"No need to wait," I nodded towards the door. Jeremy, the guy I had spoken to last night, suddenly came sauntering in, looking bleary eyed as he nursed the largest cup of coffee they sold downstairs.

"Ron?" He looked surprised to see me sat at my girlfriend's desk in surprise, rubbing his eyes as though to check he wasn't seeing things. "You and Hermione swapping jobs for the day?" he laughed.

"No." I stood up, moving towards his desk. He seemed surprised when Harry popped up from the floor and joined me.

"What's going on?" he wondered then, setting his coffee down and shrugging out of his cloak. "I had to come in early to finish the file I was working on last night. Supposed to have it on Horton's desk by this morning," he confessed.

"We need to ask you some questions," Harry began, flashing his Auror badge and switching to his professional role.

Jeremy's face paled. "Ab...about what?" he stammered. He looked so worried for a moment that I vaguely wondered what he was hiding and if he had anything to do with Hermione's disappearance.

"We have reason to believe that Hermione Granger is missing and..."

"Missing?" his eyes widened. "You never found her?" he turned to ask me.

I shook my head. "I looked everywhere I could think of last night. Our families, our usual haunts, everything. She appears to have vanished."

"And we found traces of a sleeping draught in the mug on her desk," Harry added. "We believe she may have been taken."

"What?" Jeremy sat down heavily in his chair, rubbing his chin. "Why would someone take her? What for? I mean, she's always been pleasant to me and..."

"Jeremy, we need to know exactly what time she left here yesterday. Anything she said, anything unusual no matter how small it may seem. We need to build an idea of what happened."

"Yeah, okay," he sighed and rubbed his head as though trying to remember. I suspected he was barely awake as he sluggishly took a sip of his coffee and looked up at us. "I guess she left the office about 11, sometime just before that anyway. Sorry, I can't be sure of the exact time as I was busy. But, I know I heard her mention she was going to the library, because," he smiled wryly, "it's sort of a bet we have in the office, how soon in the day she'll mention going to the library," he confessed.

Whilst I was sure Hermione would find that little nugget of information interesting, I didn't need to hear about it right now and he seemed to understand that from whatever expression I was giving out.

"Right, yeah. Sorry," he swallowed. "I know she had a pile of books to return and I heard her tell Phoebe that she'd see her after lunch."

"Did she leave with anyone?" I asked. "And, did she seem okay? I mean, if she had been slipped a sleeping draught, she may have been off balance or behaving strangely or something."

He leaned back in his chair and squinted, as though trying to picture the scene again. "I think she was okay. I suppose she had been yawning a lot – but then we've all had a long week," he shrugged. "Oh, hang on," he held up one finger. "I remember, just before she left the office, she stumbled and bumped into that cabinet," he pointed to one beside the door. "I remember because she dropped her books and make such a racket. Malik helped her pick the books up, she insisted she was fine and carried on. That was the last I saw of her," he explained as I scribbled it all down in my messy scrawl.

"Can you remember anything else? Did anything unusual happen yesterday? Any visitors or people who are not usually around or anything at all?" Harry asked.

Jeremy thought again. "No, I can't think..." he began to shake his head and then stopped. "Wait! It might be nothing, but...Céleste, you know the French girl at the Welcome desk?" he asked us. I groaned, I knew all too well who he meant. "Well, she was flitting about a lot in here, insisting on making everyone cups of tea."

"Is that unusual?" I asked, already getting a bad feeling about this.

"Well, yeah," he shrugged. "Normally she's very quiet and barely speaks to us, keeps to herself at her desk. I just thought she was, you know, a bit stuck up," he admitted, a guilty expression on his face. "Hermione told me to be nice to her, that she was rather shy. But, yesterday morning she, that is Céleste, seemed...different."

"Different?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, you know, more outspoken, lively. She seemed, well, she seemed giddy or drunk or something. After making us tea, she was handing out these biscuits she'd baked for us. I just thought maybe she was finally trying to make friends." His shoulders dropped and then his eyes widened and he suddenly slapped his own forehead. "Damn it! Only just realised. I haven't seen Céleste since before lunch yesterday either!" he gasped.

"Fuck!" I muttered under my breath and began pacing the room.

I should have bloody realised! Everything suddenly made sense. Céleste's weird obsession with me and how she turned up everywhere I was. The evil looks I could have sworn she'd given Hermione on occasion. The problems Hermione had dealt with at work recently had probably all been caused by her. Even the issues that suddenly appeared in our relationship with the rumours and shit – it all started after I met Céleste and she developed what I had thought simply to be a harmless crush on me – even as weird as it made me feel.

She must be behind everything. The rumours she must have started about Hermione cheating on me were to try and break us up. The problems at work she caused for Hermione were to try and get her fired. Those anonymous letters were probably from her as well. It was as though she was trying to push Hermione out of my life. Somehow in her deranged mind, she thought I should be with her. And, the way it seemed to me right now, she was willing to stop at nothing to achieve that.

"When she didn't come back after lunch, I just figured she'd lost track of time in the library, she does that." Jeremy shrugged, looking suddenly miserable. "Though, I was busy so didn't notice she wasn't around at first. I'm...I'm sorry," he looked up at me apologetically.

"Not your fault. And thanks for your help Jeremy." I heard Harry telling him, but I was barely listening, my mind was racing now. "If you think of anything else, send us a memo, yeah?"

"Will do," Jeremy nodded. "And, hey, I hope you find her okay." He gave me a brave smile.

"Thanks," I muttered as I got up, taking my sheet of notes and the mug for evidence with me. Once back out in the corridor, I turned to Harry. "Céleste has Hermione." I told him.

"What? How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Because it all makes sense now." I filled him in on my theory. "Plus, she disappeared the same time as Hermione. It's her, I know it!"

"Shit, you're probably right. Mate, I'm sorry – I should have listened to you. You knew something was wrong and..."

"Yeah, well, no time for that now. We have to find her."

"We will Ron. I promise, we will. So, what now?" he wondered. "We have a suspect, but no idea where she's taken her or anything."

"We need to go see Robards," I marched back to the elevator. "We need to explain the situation to him, show him the evidence we have and get authorisation to put a team together to begin a search, starting with Céleste's place and her work desk," I decided. "There might be some clues and we need all the help we can get."

"Right," Harry nodded in agreement with me. "Lead on!" he told me and we both marched towards our boss' office.

* * *

For the first time since I had been employed here, I was actually relieved that Robards, the head of the Auror department, liked to get into work early. I usually hated that fact because it meant he always caught me when I arrived late. But, right now we needed his help and for him to authorise this mission. Without any preamble, I knocked on his door and walked into his office.

He looked up sharply. "Weasley, Potter," he frowned at us and then glanced at the clock on his wall before looking back at us in disbelief. "I dare say this is a first. What can I do for you?" He set down his quill and folded his hands on his desk.

"We need your help. We believe that Hermione Granger has been kidnapped," I blurted out, rushing forwards and grasping the back of the chair that sat before his desk.

"Kidnapped? Ms Granger?" he repeated slowly, as though trying to remember who she was.

"Yes sir, our friend..."

"My girlfriend," I spoke at the same time as Harry.

"Ah yes, _that_ Ms Granger. I see," he nodded. "And tell me, what gives you reason to think she's been kidnapped?"

Between us, we filled him in on what had been happening, how she hadn't been seen since yesterday morning and what we had found at her desk. As well as everything Jeremy told us.

"I see," he leant back in his chair, his arms now folded over his chest. "And can you tell me why you didn't come to me before about these letters and threats?" he asked.

"We did some private investigating, plus my girlfriend didn't want us to make a fuss. I thought we could handle it sir," I muttered, feeling stupid now – knowing we should have told someone else what was going on. "Please, can we hurry sir? I believe she could be in danger and she's been gone almost 24 hours already, and..."

He held his hand up to silence me. He inhaled deeply and pondered things for a moment. "Do you know for certain that this...girl,"

"Céleste." I filled in for him.

"Are you certain that she has taken Ms Granger? Do you have any evidence?" he eyed the pair of us.

"We have a very strong suspicion sir," Harry replied. "And we're pretty certain she has a motive."

"Hmm," he nodded.

"Sir, please. We're wasting time here. I, we need to find her, safely. And...and..." I stammered, terrified at the thought of what could be happening to her right now, what may have already happened to her. "We need to get started so we can track her down and get her back."

"And how do you suggest you start?" he asked calmly, as though this was merely a hypothetical training exercise or he was testing us on our skills. I had an urge to kick him and I was regretting the decision to come and see him first.

"Ron suggested we go to Céleste's place of residence and search for any clues. As well as searching her desk here at the Ministry," Harry supplied an answer, noticing that I was close to losing it.

"Right," he nodded and pulled a sheet of parchment from a drawer. I watched as he scribbled something down. "In that case, here are your official mission duties." He handed over the sheet and I snatched it from him, releasing a sigh of relief when I saw Hermione's name mentioned. For one insane moment I thought he might order us out on another mission and leave finding her to someone else or not take us seriously at all. "I suggest you find yourself a couple more Aurors who are available and willing to go with you and I don't need to remind you that this information is currently classified – we don't need word getting out. Keep me posted," he added as he stood up dismissing us in the same breath.

Hurrying from his office, I read over the orders he'd given us - "Locate and rescue mission. Victim: Hermione Granger.' "Well," I handed it to Harry, "at least he's taking it seriously now," I sighed.

Harry nodded, handing me the parchment back. "Let's see who we can convince to come with us." He marched on ahead.

"Better get someone good," I muttered, knowing there wouldn't be much to choose from at this time of day.

Thankfully, we ran into Neville just on his way in. "Morning. You two look awful, what's going on? Bad case?" he nodded to the sheet of parchment I was rolling up.

"Hermione's been kidnapped!"

We hadn't finished explaining the situation or the mission we'd been authorised to carry out before he was insisting on joining us. Although he didn't have any more experience than the pair of us had, we both knew he was loyal and trustworthy and that he cared about Hermione – which was what we needed right now.

With him on board, we also quickly recruited a colleague that Neville knew well because he was often partnered with her – Anna Meadows. He informed us she had good deductive skills and he'd seen her work miracles in negotiations, plus he swore he trusted her. One reference from Neville and she was in, the four of us quickly began making plans. Anna was going to stay here and search Céleste's desk whilst the three us would first go and demand her personal details from the personnel records office and then head over to her home address. We'd meet up back here to share what we found as soon as we had thoroughly searched both places.

* * *

 _I know most of you have had your suspicions about Céleste for awhile, so...do you think Ron is on the right track? Find out next chapter._

 _Remember; reviews are like hugs for authors...and with the world we live in today, we all need a hug!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Reviews to my last chapter were very much appreciated - thank you for all your kind words. I shall reply to everyone when the story is complete._

 _I think there's only a couple of chapter left after this one...things are going to be a bit intense for awhile! SO, on with the show..._

 _Usual Disclaimers apply._

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

I glanced around at the empty flat we'd just Apparated into. Well, I say flat, but I think bedsit would be a more accurate term. Or even the word dump, would have worked. Honestly, this place was more disgusting than our dorm room at Hogwarts had ever been with five boys living there!

Dirty clothes were strewn over every available space – some piled rather high. The bed didn't look as though it ever got made, let alone washed and rubbish was overflowing in a nearby bin. There was a sink full of unwashed pots that didn't smell too great and piles of take-a-way boxes discarded on the kitchen table. Maybe it was a telling as to her state of mind how she could live this way – it was becoming obvious that she wasn't well mentally. After getting over the shock of seeing the state of this place, we all began to search different areas of the room, Harry going into the tiny bathroom and judging from the expletives he uttered as he opened the door, it was just as disgusting in there.

"Hey, Ron, look at this," Neville called me over to where he was searching the far side of the bed.

"What you got?" I asked, hurrying over, excited that we may have got lucky and found something already.

"Erm, just this," he timidly handed me what he was holding.

"Oh bloody hell!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, I know. Rather creepy, isn't it?" he asked

I held in my hand a framed photo of Hermione and I, taken at hers and Ginny's graduation party last summer. The very same photo that had gone missing from Hermione's desk at work some weeks ago when she'd began having problems with her colleagues. In the photo, we had our arms around one another, beaming at the camera before I placed a huge sloppy kiss on Hermione's cheek and she blushed and giggled.

At least that's what the original photo had been of. Now it wasn't Hermione's cheek my image was kissing. Some rather crude magic had been done to the photo so that now Céleste's head replaced Hermione's and it was her image that was now beaming at the camera and giggling in delight. I almost dropped the photo in disgust.

"She's erm, obviously rather disturbed," Neville uttered, taking the photo back from me and wrapping it in magical bindings to take back as evidence.

"If by rather disturbed you mean fuckin' bloody mental, you'd be about right!" I uttered. Then I realised what I'd said and the fact that Neville's own parents were still in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's after being driven insane by that bitch Bellatrix, and that they would most likely remain there for the rest of their life. "I erm, sorry. I didn't mean..."

"Don't worry about it," Neville shrugged, not at all embarrassed about his parents condition. "I know what you mean. A Mental illness can't be helped, they happen, or horrible things happen to people to make them that way," he spoke from bitter experience. "But, when you consciously plot to harm other people, in my opinion that oversteps having a condition you can't help, to just being evil!"

I gave him a tight smile and a pat to his upper arm. "How, erm, how are your parents?" I asked, being polite.

"About the same," he shrugged. "I still visit them regularly and tell them everything. But it's rough, you know," he sighed.

"Yeah, I know," I agreed, not being able to decide which was worse – having a beloved relative die or have them still here but not knowing who you were or what was going on at all. At least with death you got to grieve. The Wizarding wars had stolen so much from all of us and it wasn't bloody fair.

Neville moved to the other side of the bed and began to rummage through a drawer in there. I moved towards the lounge area and tried to make sense of the piles of old newspapers, discarded wrappers, old pizza boxes and brochures littering the entire space. I pulled a dozen or so brochures out for local Muggle tourist attractions in London – London zoo, Natural History museum, Madame Tussauds, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Sea Life Centre and many other places. I didn't understand of what interest they would possibly be to a witch though. Unless they were just some rather bizarre collection she had - a bit like my Dad with his flipping plugs that drove Mum mad!

"That was the filthiest, most revolting thing ever!" Harry came out of the bathroom, shaking his wet hands he'd obviously just ran under the tap. "Just...don't go in there, believe me!" He pulled a sickened face and shuddered at the thought.

"Did you find anything though?" I asked, stacking the brochures up and placing them aside.

"Besides the disgusting bath with a thick black line of mould around it, the toilet that barely flushes or the bin overflowing with used..." he grimaced, "you know, lady products? No. And I don't even want to imagine what I stepped in in there! Eurgh!" He glared at his own shoes as he checked the bottom of them.

"I really don't think she's supposed to be living alone. It doesn't look as though she can cope. I wonder if her family even know she's here?" I wondered, making a mental note to check on her background once we'd rescued Hermione. "Though, I suppose she always looked well presented at work and must have been able to carry out her tasks." I mused.

"She wouldn't want to bring attention to herself, would she?" Came a muffled reply from Neville from where he was searching in the small wardrobe.

"Has anyone checked over here yet?" Harry asked, pointing to a cabinet. Neville and I shook our heads, him sticking his out of the wardrobe.

We looked in every drawer and every cupboard. Under the bed and bedding, moved every last stitch of clothing and under every last cushion. We searched everywhere and yet hadn't come up with any clues as to where she may have taken Hermione, nothing. Just a creepy photo, some random brochures that seemed a bit strange to me and then Harry pulled a notebook from the back of the drawer in the cabinet.

He opened it up and flicked through it, pushing some rubbish and clothes aside to sit on the floor. I think we were all going to need sterile baths and maybe even use scouring charms on each other once we left this place – otherwise I feared we might catch something.

"Hey, this might be something," Harry began, turning a page in the book. "It seems to be a diary or something. Your name comes up a lot," he looked up at me. "Though, I can't read the rest of it - it's all in French."

"Use a translation spell," Neville sensibly suggested, fighting to close the door on the wardrobe – things kept falling out on him.

"Oh, yeah," Harry rolled his eyes at himself and pointed his wand at the book, watching as the handwriting slowly changed shape to form the English language. "Yeah, this could be useful," he nodded to himself now he was able to understand it.

The three of us gathered around the book as Harry read aloud: "Actually met Ron today. He is so handsome and charming, much sexier than any photo I have seen" Harry shared an amused look with Neville, I slapped them both on the back of their heads before Harry continued to read. "He was very sweet to me, I think we could be good together. I don't know what he sees in the bushy haired cow though!"

"Wow, never much liked Hermione at all, did she?" Neville commented with raised eyebrows.

Harry turned a couple of pages in the book: "Saw him again today. He is simply divine. Somehow I must make him mine. Just one complication though – yeah, her!" He skipped ahead a few more pages – it seemed every time she bumped into me or even saw me, she'd make an entry about it. "Waited hours for Ron to walk by today...he was late. I have been checking on his usual routine and I thought I had missed him. Made my day when he walked by and said hello. Worth getting into trouble with my boss for being late."

"So, all those bleedin' times I bumped into her, it was not just a coincidence. She _was_ bloody stalking me!" I groaned. "I should have realised sooner." I felt such a prat. For the longest time I just thought she was lonely and needed a friend. It was only after a few weeks that I thought she was behaving a little strange and it started to freak me out.

"Oh gross! I am _not_ reading that!" Harry pulled a face as though he was going to be sick and quickly turned the page.

"What?" Neville innocently asked.

"Let's just say she has a very...imaginative and filthy mind when it comes to Ron and how she wants to be with him. And she's not embarrassed to write down her perverted little fantasies…in detail."

"Yeah, gross. Don't read that!" Neville agreed with him, blushing slightly at the mere thought.

"It does not say that." I snatched the book from him and flicked back a couple of pages, then wished I hadn't. He was right – it was filthy and perverted. Much worse than anything I had read in one of those nudie magazines I had found in any of my brother's bedrooms on occasion.

I handed it back to Harry, feeling rather sick. I was also very aware that had this been any other situation, had Hermione not been in danger, Harry would have found it absolutely hilarious that a rather crazy girl was obsessed with me enough to be writing dirty fantasies about the two of us together. He wouldn't have thought twice about taking the piss out of me – possibly for the rest of my life!

This told me just how serious the situation was. But, it also said a lot about both his friendship with me and his friendship and respect for Hermione that he didn't say a word, didn't even crack a smile. I was grateful for small mercies.

He flipped through a fair few pages, going past all the pornographic stuff, until something more helpful appeared. "Here, Hermione is mentioned again. Well, she refers to her as a bitch, but," he shrugged apologetically. "The bitch is still all over him. He can't seem to get rid of her or whatever hold she has on him. Even after I started that rumour about her cheating on him. Talking about it rather loudly in front of someone I knew to be a reporter was a good move, I thought. It didn't help, she somehow won him back, lied to him probably. I'm certain she has him doped up on love potion - it's the only way I can see someone as amazing as Ron in love with someone like her! She doesn't deserve him - I do! HE WILL be mine."

"Wow!" Neville gasped. "You're right – she IS bloody mental!"

"Tell me about it," I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. "What's the most recent entry?" I asked Harry, hoping she might say something about where they were going or what her plans were.

He flipped to the back. "Hmm..." he hummed as he scanned through her ramblings. "Oh, here we go. 'Ready to put my plan into action. Time to get rid of the frizzy haired bitch once and for all. And then Ron can be mine when I free him from her.'"

"Is that it?" I asked, snatching it from Harry again and flicking back a few pages. "It doesn't say anything about what her plan is? What she's going to do? Where she's taken her?" I asked, sounding hysterical even to my own ears. "There's nothing!" I slammed the book down. "Bloody useless piece of crap. We still don't know any thing new." I threw my hands into the air, infuriated. All that did was confirm she was rather insane and she intended to get Hermione out of the way.

Harry sighed. "I don't think we're going to find anything else here. We should probably head back, check with Anna and see what she found, then plan our next step," he suggested, eyeing Neville. I knew that look – it meant he was worried and he didn't want me to know.

I glanced at my watch, biting my lip when I realised we'd wasted even more time. Hermione had been missing roughly 24 hours now and who knew what was happening to her. The thought of her being tortured again made me so angry I wanted to break something, curse someone, kill the mental bloody psycho bitch! If the psycho bitch had hurt even one adorable frizzy little hair on my girlfriends's head, I was going to make her pay for what she'd done.

"Ron," Harry touched my shoulder and I about leapt out of my skin, caught up in my own gloomy thoughts. "We're going to find her mate. We are going to get her back safe, I promise," he added, speaking to me calmly, sensing I was getting worked up again.

"Yeah, right," I nodded and forced a brief smile for him. Not that I felt so positive – how could I be when we were no step closer to finding her at all?

"There has to be some clues in this stuff. We just need to find it," Neville added brightly, collecting our evidence together as we got ready to Disapparate out of this stink hole.

I only hoped he was right.

* * *

"Did you find anything?" Harry immediately asked Anna when she joined us in one of the empty briefing rooms we had been granted permission to use for our investigation.

Heaving a sigh, she sat down with us. "Nothing helpful I'm afraid," she confessed. "A few photos of Ron, probably clipped from magazines and newspapers. And, erm..." she looked embarrassed.

"And what?" I asked – it couldn't be much worse than that diary, after all.

"There were some, er, I guess you would call them love letters, written to Ron." She handed over a bunch of scribbled pieces of parchment. "They're all rather, well, imaginatively detailed," she cringed.

"Same as this diary then," Harry sighed, holding it up to show her. "She certainly has an over-active imagination," he laughed dryly.

"That's all you got?" I snapped, losing my patience with the whole thing, even though I knew it wasn't their fault – everyone was doing their best. Understanding that I was rather distraught, no one took it personally, but I still felt like a git every time something negative came out of my mouth. "Sorry," I muttered, holding my head in my hand as my elbow rested on the table.

"Well, there was something else," she began. I sat up straight and stared at her. "I managed to speak with a couple more of her colleagues. A, erm," she paused, checking her notes, "Mr Barnaby said he remembered seeing Hermione at about 11.30, heading for the lifts. He says he remembers because she was stumbling a bit and he stopped to ask her if she was okay. He said she looked at him and seemed afraid or worried – he wasn't sure which."

"Probably both," Neville commented.

"He thought she was about to answer him, when that blonde girl from the welcome desk came darting forwards and said she was taking Hermione to see a Healer for a migraine she had. He didn't think much else of it and let them go, telling Hermione he hoped she felt better soon."

I groaned and threw my head down atop of my arms folded on the table. "So bloody stupid!" I mumbled into my arms.

"Well, if he thought she wasn't well. That explains why he never missed her when she didn't come back after lunch," Harry added.

"No," I turned my head and looked up at him. "I mean, _I_ was so bloody stupid. I made sure to keep an eye out when we were out in public, to not let her go anywhere alone or anything. But, I thought she was safe here in the Ministry. Yet, this is where the bloody bitch took her from!" I threw my head back into my arms.

"This, Céleste, she has taken Hermione then?" Anna asked. "I mean, you're certain?"

"Yes," Harry answered. He seemed to be taking over the investigation, sensing I was in no fit state to speak about the case objectively right now. "We have unqualified evidence and a witness that marks her as our suspect. She has been obsessed with Ron for months now and threatened to get rid of Hermione."

"Just checking. So, now what? Do we have any clue where she's taken her or..."

"Let's go over everything that we have," Neville gathered everything we'd collected together, putting them into piles.

I was about to start whining again about how we were wasting bloody time here when the door suddenly slammed open and startled us all.

"Ron!" George burst into the room, out of breath. "Merlin's bollocks," he gasped, leaning on the table as he got his breath back. "Harder trying to get in here than it ever was to get out of Hogwarts. Fred would have..."

"George, what the hell are you doing here?" I cut him off, eyeing him quizzically.

"Can't a brother come visit his little brother at work?" he grinned. When he got no response, he flashed one eyebrow in surprise. "Okay," he muttered under his breath. "Anyway, I was out by the side of the shop, sorting some rubbish out a bit ago..."

"Oh! You have the joke shop!" Anna realised. "I love that place! My little brother…" catching my eye, she shut up instantly.

"Your appreciation for my hard work has been noted, fair lady." George looked proud and lowered his head as though he was tipping his hat.

"George!" I snapped at him, having no time for his stupid antics right now.

"Hold your hippogriffs, little brother. As I was saying, I was sorting out the rubbish and I noticed something stuck to the back door of your flat." he continued. "I went to have a look, because I'm a nosey git and found this." He pulled an envelope from his pocket. "Thought I should bring it straight over because it might be urgent, seeing as it's marked 'urgent'." He pointed to the said word that had underlined three times and shrugged in that careless way my annoying brother had.

I snatched it from him, instantly, checking out the front of the envelope. It was only marked with two words – my name and the word 'urgent' in heavy scrawl that looked somewhat familiar after looking through the journal and the love notes.

"Wow, not much humour in this place, is there? How do you stand working here?" he asked and got no response again. "Okay," he folded his arms, "what is with all the serious faces?" he looked around at the four of us.

"Hermione," Harry replied, "she's still missing."

"Still?" George blinked. "Bloody hell little brother, you must have really cocked up this time!" He punched my arm, finding it all amusing.

"I haven't done a soddin' thing," I told him, unfolding the note. "She's been bloody kidnapped you daft git!" I added, falling into a chair with the letter.

"What? Really? I...I..." he stammered.

"Yeah," Harry answered him. "We know who took her, just not where. Which is what what we're working on right now."

"Fuck!" George cursed under his breath.

I read the letter, dread filling me with every word. " _I_ _f you want the bossy bitch back, though I don't know why,_ _y_ _ou need to bring me what I want_ _and I'll trade_ _. Only,_ _I'm not going to tell you where we are, because_ _that's too easy._ _S_ _o let's make you jump over a few broomsticks_ _first_ _._ _Y_ _ou'll find_ _the next_ _clue_ _in finding her_ _at the place where the oldest nature reside_ _s_ _. Hurry...time is ticking_."

"Shit!" I hissed and rubbed the side of my face as I handed the letter over to Harry. The other three crowded around him to read over his shoulder.

"The place where old nature resides?" Neville queried.

"What is it she wants?" Anna asked at almost the same time as Neville spoke.

I inhaled deeply, I at least knew exactly what that was. "Me," I replied.

"You?" George asked, and the way he asked, told me he was taking this seriously now- no longer taking the piss. "May I ask why?"

"Long story, basically a psycho stalker who's obsessed with Ron and wants Hermione out of the way, permanently." Anna filled him in.

"Fuck!" George repeated.

"So. This clue, where old nature resides? What does that mean?" Neville asked, studying the letter himself.

"A forest? That's nature, right? And usually old?" Anna suggested.

"The Forbidden Forest?" Harry's eye lit up with memories long repressed of our various encounters in there.

I shook my head. "Céleste went to school in France, I doubt she's know about that. Besides, she'd never get into the grounds of Hogwarts without being seen," I reminded him.

"Old nature..." George mused, tapping his chin with his index finger.

"The apothecary?" Neville suggested. "Lots of old plant based, natural material in there."

I shook my head, knowing we were missing something, something we already knew or had seen. "Nah, it would be somewhere bigger than a shop, somewhere no one would really take any notice of her. Old nature," I muttered to myself, trying to think of old things and where people would keep them. There were old things in a library, though not usually natural unless you counted the paper and parchment they were printed on and the wooden book shelves. Or, I thought of something. "Harry, what's those places called where Muggles go to look at old stuff?" I wondered.

"Old stuff? Oh, you mean a museum or something?" He asked, catching on to my train of thought.

"Yeah, a museum, with old natural things...hang on!" I exclaimed and dug through the pile of items we'd recovered at her flat, rummaging for one of those tourist brochures we'd found. "The Natural History museum?" I asked, holding up the brochure.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed and took it from me. "Though, that place is huge. I remember taking a school trip there years ago... back when I went to Muggle school before Hogwarts," he explained for Anna's benefit who looked confused. "It will take us ages to search that entire building."

"Then we'll have to split up," I reasoned, packing the things up and checking my wand was secure in my pocket. "And try using the summoning charm if we can get away with it safely around the Muggles."

"Right, let's get going," Harry told the others, pushing his chair back loudly.

"Hang on," George grabbed my arm. "Let me come, I want to help."

"George, thanks. I appreciate the offer, but, this is Auror business now. We..."

"Bollocks to that!" He slashed his hand through the air. "I want to help find her, please? Hermione, she's like a sister to me and..."

"You know, another pair of hands won't hurt." Harry shrugged. "And it's not as though he has no experience in this stuff."

"This mission is supposed to be hush hush," I reminded him.

"I won't tell anyone. I just want to help," George promised.

"Someone else searching might speed things up," Neville suggested.

"Fine," I huffed. "But don't get in the way and...if I tell you to go, you go, no arguments. All right?"

"Eye eye sir," he saluted me and grinned. I shook my head, hoping I wasn't going to regret this decision!

And with that, the five of us hurried off to the approved apparition point within the department.

* * *

Harry Apparated us into a quiet street nearby, explaining that the place would be crawling with Muggles and unsafe to appear too close to the building. We hurried towards the entrance and then became dismayed when we realised we'd have to wait in a queue to go in. Thankfully, it was free to enter because I don't know if any of us had considered the idea of Muggle currency.

Once inside, we checked the map for each area and decided to each take one section to search, before meeting back by the giant Dinosaur skeleton in the main hall in one hour to regroup. I charged off to begin my own search, wondering why Muggles were so weird. The place was full of old bones, fossils and stuff that had apparently fallen from space – what on earth was fun about looking at stuff like that?

It wasn't easy to be thorough and yet speedy to check all the little side rooms with their big exhibits, the ornate vast ceilings and dozens of display cases, as well as everything on the walls, and be sure you hadn't missed something vital. But, I knew we would each do the best we could. The thought of Hermione being held captive and what she must be going through, as well as the overwhelming need to rescue her pushed me on and made me work harder, not even wanting to imagine the alternative. I didn't think Céleste would just let her go if we ignored her demands – I don't think she really cared what lengths she went to get what she wanted. Besides, I was ready and willing to sacrifice myself for Hermione's safety.

I felt as though I had been running around for hours, past display after display of various rocks and trees, stuffed dead birds and animals that strangely made me think of the stuffed Elf heads at Grimmauld Place, though perhaps not quite as creepy. I was becoming stressed again, running around in a blind panic and I had to stop for a moment, just to calm down and breathe before I threw up or passed out or something.

Leaning against the wall for a moment and taking deep breaths as I rested my hands on my knees, I overheard a couple of Muggle women talking next to me, discussing an exhibit in the display cabinet beside us.

"Such a shame they became extinct." One of them commented to her friend.

"I know, humanity has a lot to answer for really." The other one agreed. "Look, it says here they were wiped out completely within 100 years of being discovered by man." She sighed, sadly. "Those creatures probably existed for centuries before we stepped in and ruined things."

"And yet, we don't seem to have learnt our lesson, man is still destroying this world." The first woman replied to her.

I looked up, curious as to what they were talking about and did a double take. A Diricrawl? They were getting all misty eyed about Diricrawl's? But, they weren't extinct at all – they were actually right cheeky little beggars according to my brother Charlie who had encountered a large flock on his holidays last summer. Said they'd steal stuff right out of your pockets if you got too close and then they'd disappear in a puff of feathers, along with your belongings!

I almost opened up my mouth, to tell them there were still plenty around and not to worry, when I caught sight of one of the plaques beside the display that referred to them as Dodo's. Unexpectedly, I was reminded of a paragraph of facts about them, something I had once needed for a school essay and Hermione had highlighted in a book for me, about how Muggles believed the bird they called a Dodo was extinct because it was after all a magical creature and could easily vanish, therefore they hadn't seen any in years. It went on to say that this was a good thing because it had made Muggles aware of endangered and extinct animals.

Realising that I couldn't tell either women the truth, otherwise I'd probably be breaking the statute of secrecy, I kept my mouth shut and let them carry on. Fascinated by their conversation though, I stood quietly beside them, pretending to read the information whilst mentally planning where to look next. And that was when I saw it. Sticking out from behind the display case, a piece of parchment paper. The clue! It had to be. In one fluid movement, I snatched it up and calmly walked away so I didn't look too suspicious or as though I had just stolen something. Only when I was safely away did I open the envelope and read over the contents – once again infuriated by her.

Stupid bloody bitch had done it again with her damn clues!

Checking my watch and realising I was 10 minutes past the time we'd planned to meet back at the Dinosaur, I ran off, charging down the immense stairs that looked like something out of Hogwarts.

"I got it!" I called when I was close enough to where they were huddled together, waiting for me. "Found it!" I gasped, handing it over, suddenly out of breath again. I was actually exhausted and terrified, but I was trying to keep it together – I had to. Hermione's life was in the balance.

"What's it say?" Neville leaned over Harry's shoulder as he opened it.

" _W_ _ell done_ ," he read. "Smarmy cow, isn't she?" He asked, looking up at us. " _Now you found this one, the next clue is where you'll find live versions of some of these exhibits. But hurry, before the bushy one becomes as dead as humans believe the diricrawl's are._ _I'm waiting Ronald_."

"Bitch!" George hissed.

"She's threatening to kill her now?" Neville's face paled.

"I think that's usually what 'be rid of her for once and all' means, Neville." Anna told him patiently, then gave me a rather guilty look and tried to reassure me with a smile. I don't know why she bothered, it wasn't as though I hadn't come to the same conclusion myself. Céleste was insane enough to kill her, under some crazy notion that I would then love her and want to be with her if only Hermione wasn't in our way.

Not a bloody, mother fuckin' chance in hell would I!

"So, where do we find live versions of some of the exhibits? Which ones is she talking about? The dinosaur bones? The fossils? The animals? What?" Harry asked.

"Where did you find it?" Anna asked me. Neville had been right, she did have good logical skills.

"By the Diricrawl, or as the Muggles call it, the Dodo exhibit. But we won't find live exhibits of them, not in London anyway."

"Maybe we have to travel? I mean, if she's talking about the bones - some of these dinosaurs could actually be dragons you know." George pointed out. "Charlie would know, might have to drag him here someday and see what he..."

"George, not right now," I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"Right, sorry." He shut up.

"Anyway, I think it's something closer, she's keeping it in the general area because she wouldn't want to be too far away from me. I get the feeling these clues are all connected somehow and that we've already come across something that tells us where to go. Like that brochure for this place. Some Muggle tourist place where she knows we can't cheat with magic."

"A tourist place? With live exhibits? She must be talking about the animals then. What about the zoo?" Harry suggested.

"That's it!" I exclaimed, grasping his shoulder. "London zoo! There was a brochure for that with the stuff we found at her flat."

"Come on then, let's go." George led the way back to the deserted street where we could Dissapparate again.

Thankfully, by cutting through Regent's park and using a bit of concealment, we were able to slip into a quiet corner amongst a cluster of trees and avoid the hefty entrance fee. "We'll split up again," I decided. "Two hours and we'll meet back up at…" I held my hand up to shield my eyes from the glaring winter sun, searching for a suitable meeting point, "by that fountain." I pointed towards it. "Okay?" I asked everyone who nodded in agreement and we all ran off in different directions, having no idea what we were looking for or where.

The last clue had been by something related to the magical world, yet confused by Muggles. I didn't think there would be anything like that here. I mean they weren't exactly going to have a Phoenix in a cage, thinking it was a large parrot or a Pygmy Puff in the petting zoo and thought it was just a flamboyant guinea pig or something. Well, not unless they were particularly stupid Muggles!

I ventured on, wandering past enclosures of lions and monkeys, amongst other animals. Any other time, I might actually enjoy visiting the zoo. Maybe this was somewhere fun I could bring Hermione for a change, I wondered to myself. I can't say I'd ever really considered visiting any of the Muggle attractions in the city, but perhaps it might be fun?

The place was swarming with happy, cheerful families enjoying a day out. School trips of giddy kids ran around laughing and squealing. Romantic looking couples walked along hand in hand.

The last one choked me up. What if I never got chance to bring Hermione here? What if I never got the chance to take her anywhere ever again? If anything happened to her, I couldn't, I wouldn't...

Oh Merlin! I couldn't breathe! My chest ached and I had to stop for a moment, gasping for breath. I almost passed out before I managed to practically crawl towards a bench and sat down heavily.

"Are you all right mister?" someone called to me, sounding worried.

"Yeah, fine," I nodded, bending forwards, my head between my knees as I tried to calm down, to get my breathing under control. I couldn't panic, not now and not out in public like this. I couldn't afford to waste time losing it.

"Ron?" Someone was running towards me, someone who's voice I recognised. The bench creaked and bowed slight as George sat down beside me, placing a hand on my back. "Are you okay?"

"Can't breathe," I gasped.

"Okay, short breaths." He rubbed my back. "Just, focus on your breathing for a moment," he told me calmly – I never knew he had such compassion in him and for a moment I forgot what I had been panicking about. "It's okay, it's all going to be okay," he murmured, trying to soothe me.

"How do you know that George?" I snapped, looking up and fixing him with a glare. "My fuckin' girlfriend has been taken! How is that okay? Do you have any bloody idea what I'm going through?" I yelled at him and as George hissed at me to be quiet, glancing at the Muggles wandering by who were giving us curious glances, I regretted my words. Of course George knew what I was going through, he knew better than most how it felt to lose someone close to you, your other half so to speak. He was still living that nightmare and would for the rest of his life.

"Please don't go scaring the Muggles!" he whispered, graciously not having a go at me for my poor choice of words. I knew he was just cutting me some slack right now because he knew how I felt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." I was about to apologise and then caught the look he gave me, telling me there was no need. "I just feel like we're wasting bloody time here, running about a blasted zoo, whilst Hermione is...is…oh George, what if lose her? I can't lose her," I shook my head sadly as I began to lose it again. "I can't...not after everything. I, I need her." My voice cracked and my eyes burned with un-shed tears.

"Shh," George whispered again soothingly and wrapped an arm around me. "We're going to find her and she's going to be fine. Wanna know how I know that?" he asked.

"How?" I sniffed, feeling like an idiot for crying as I wiped my nose on my sleeve. I knew, later, he'd probably be using this as ammunition for taking the piss out of me.

"Because my baby brother is the meanest, toughest Auror out there. And because he's a bloody force to reckoned with when a loved one is threatened. Hermione couldn't have anyone better looking for her," he replied, proudly. I never realised he felt that way before now.

"I feel so damn useless," I muttered. "I have to save her, have to stop...she can't go through torture again. It almost killed her last time."

"Last time?" he looked surprised. I couldn't remember how much we'd told people about things that had happened to us during the war or our months on the run looking for Horcruxes.

"During the war," I added vaguely, knowing that would be enough for him right now. "I have to find her, I need to be with her. She needs me." I began to sob again.

"Ron, little brother, we're going to get her back. And we're going to make sure this crazy bitch pays for whatever she's done to her, I promise you. We are not losing another member of this family!" he added, resolutely.

I was touched he considered Hermione a member of the family already. I mean, one day I intended to make that official. But it seems my brother already considered it done and dusted. "Thanks," I sniffed again and from somewhere he handed me a handkerchief.

"Hey, what are big brothers for?" he smiled. "Come on, we should get looking." He helped me up from the bench, checking I was steady on my feet before letting go.

"You're right," I nodded, "we're wasting time whilst I'm being a bloody wimp."

"You are not being a wimp at all," he told me forcefully, meeting my eye. "I'm amazed how you're keeping it together to be honest."

"Training," I replied, wiping my face free of tears before blowing my nose.

George nodded. "Yeah, right. Okay, you go that way, past the tigers. I'll go check near the penguins," he decided and was already walking in that direction.

"Hang on, is there anything in here remotely related to, magic?" I whispered the last word. "You know, something that could be considered common in our world?"

He thought about it for a moment, neither of us had ever been to a Muggle zoo after all. "I don't know, I only glanced at the map briefly. But, I noted a reptile house, so they'll probably have snakes. And, maybe they have owls here?" he wondered. "Why, do you think there's a link?"

"The last one was linked – a magical creature that the Muggles also had a name for, but thought had just disappeared from existence. Maybe there is a connection somehow. It's something to work with anyway." I shrugged.

"And that, my little brother, is why you're a bloody brilliant Auror. I'll go find the owls. You go to the reptile house!" He pointed me in the direction and we separated again. Jogging ahead, I found I had a new appreciation for my brother, that he had managed to talk me down and comfort me without taking the piss was perhaps a sign of maturity. Or maybe it was just a sign that he understood we were in a bloody awful situation here.

It took my eyes a few minutes to adjust to the dim lighting once I entered the reptile house, but when they did, I spotted Harry. He was stood gazing at a huge snake behind glass. I took a quick glance around for anything obvious before walking over to him. "Anything?" I asked him, placing a hand on the railing beside his.

"Oh, hey," he turned to look at me, it seemed I had taken him by surprise. I wondered what had him so distracted. "Oh, no, I've not found anything yet." He shook his head. "You okay?"

I shrugged and swiped my face with my arm again, hoping I hadn't left any evidence of my little break down a few minutes ago. "Just, you know..." I shrugged again helplessly.

"Yeah," he agreed and patted my hand resting on the rail. "We're going to get her back you know," he told me. "After everything we've all been through, we are not going to lose her to some starstruck psycho witch!"

"I think you mean bitch, but thanks." I appreciated the efforts people were making to boost my morale. "So, what's with the snake?" I nodded my head towards the glass enclosure, wanting to change the subject before I cried all over him too. I had to remain hopeful and positive, otherwise I was going to be useless.

"I came here once before," he began. "It was my cousin's birthday. I wasn't meant to come with them, I mean, they wouldn't want me to have fun or enjoy myself after all, but they had no choice when a babysitter fell through and had nowhere to leave me." He grinned then as he remembered something. "Do you remember I once told you I set a snake on my cousin?" His eyes left the snake as he turned to look at me.

"Yeah, vaguely." I replied, wondering what this had to do with anything.

"Well, it happened right here," he nodded towards the enclosure in front of us. "It was the first time I knew I could speak to snakes or understand them." He shrugged. "I guess I got angry with Dudley after he pushed me and...had a little burst of magic," he chuckled to himself. "See, the glass here disappeared and the snake escaped, scaring the crap out of old Dudders and his mates! I wonder what happened to him," he mused.

"Dudley?" I frowned, wondering why he cared.

"No, the snake!" Harry laughed.

"Oh. Hey, you can't still, you know...hiss hiss," I made a pathetic attempt to speak Parseltongue.

"Nah, that was gone as soon as Riddle destroyed the Horcrux in me, along with any other connection we had. Can't say I miss it – it was rather weird."

"Just a bit," I agreed and turned my back on the snake, gazing around the building. "So...did you have the same idea as me?" I wondered.

"That Céleste is linking Muggle world knowledge with our Magical world? Yep," he nodded. "I thought there might be something in here, since snakes are well known in both worlds."

"I thought so too. And George has gone off to look for owls."

"Yeah, that was my next thought," Harry nodded. "So, you take this side, I'll look down here." He wandered off.

We looked all over for a fair few minutes searching around, bumping into little kids running up to cases and jumping back with a squeal when a creature moved. Some teenage lads were tapping on the glass and teasing one another about being afraid of the biggest snakes. I moved along the displays in trepidation, hoping there were no enclosures with huge spiders in here – I didn't think my nerves could take it right now.

And then I heard Harry yelling me from the other end of the reptile house. "Did you find something?" I jogged over to him, shoving past people heedlessly.

He held up an envelope. "This was stuck on top of this." He patted a display of plastic models depicting where in the world reptiles came from. It was an interactive item that children could spin and liked to play with. "Come on," he nodded his head towards the exit, "we'll open it outside, the light is better and the smell is starting to get to me in here!" He screwed up his nose in disgust.

I couldn't agree more as I followed him out. Once outside, we sat down on a low wall and he pulled the note from the envelope. "Does it say where she is?" I asked eagerly.

"No," Harry huffed. "Just another bloody clue."

"Another one?" I asked, dismayed. "Oh for fucks sake!" I hissed, utterly pissed off with this game now. What did she think she was up to? Was this all really amusing to her? How could she possibly think that I would want anything to do with someone who did something like this? "You know," I looked at Harry and snatched the note from him. "I've had about enough of her fuckin' crap!" I cursed and began to shred the note.

"Ron! NO! We need that!" Harry yelled at me just as I tore it up into smaller and smaller pieces.

* * *

 _Ooops! Ron...what have you done?!_

 _If you want to make me smile, leave me a lovely review...until next time :)_


	15. Chapter 15

_Sorry to have kept you waiting after Ron's little tantrum and ripping up the note, but I'm here with the next chapter._

 _Thank you as always for the lovely reviews – replies coming very soon – promise!_

 _My usual disclaimer (see profile page) applies._

 _Warnings for Ron's cursing!_

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

"Shit! Shit!" I cursed, looking down in horror at what I'd done as the pieces of parchment fluttered to the ground. "I...oh shit! Sorry!" I looked up at Harry, panic stricken. What the fuck had I been thinking?

"What the hell did you do that for?" He got down on his hands and knees, beginning to collect all the pieces together.

"I...I don't. I'm sorry," I muttered, pissed off with myself as my heart pounded. "I just, I am so fed up with all of this. I just want, no, I _need_ to find her, safely. It's driving me bloody mental wondering if she's okay and what's happening to her whilst we're running around a fuckin' zoo!" I wailed, fearing I was going to cry again.

"I know mate," Harry stood and patted my back in what he probably thought was a reassuring gesture. I was starting to get annoyed with everyone doing that now, because it didn't reassure me one little bit, even though I knew they all meant well. "I promise you that were are going to do whatever it takes to get her back safely. But, right now these stupid clues are the only lead we have!" he pointed out, looking around for any more bits he may have missed.

I cringed, knowing he was right. "Don't suppose you remember what it said?"

He shook his head. "I'd barely read the first line when you snatched it from me." I cursed again as he gave a shifty look over each shoulder, turned his back and slyly pulled his wand from his pocket. "Reparo." he murmured. The pieces of parchment quickly fluttered back together until they formed a complete sheet once again.

"Thank fuck for magic!" I sighed in relief as Harry sat back down beside me on the wall and we each looked at the note.

' _So,_ _are you having fun yet? Not sure she's worth all this trouble._ _Though I expect you're more eager to get to me, right Ron? In that case, y_ _ou will find the next clue_ _to finding us_ _in a place that holds those who live under the water. Get a move on –_ _I miss you_ _!'_

"Under the water?" I looked up at Harry, ignoring the more ridiculous parts of her message. "Are we going to have to go swimming?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. So, things living under the water? Mermaids? Grindylows? The Great Lake at Hogwarts?" He was thinking out loud.

"In that case it could be any bloody river, lake or ocean really," I muttered grumpily. "This is pointless!" I grumbled, folding my arms and sulking. "If she wants me as desperately as she claims, why not just tell me where to find her? Why not just come and grab me? Why the hell is she playing these games?"

"Because she's insane Ron!" Harry replied simply. "Come on think...places that can hold things that live under water. Besides rivers and lakes, what kind of things holds creatures that need to be in water?" he asked.

I shrugged as I tried to think. "I don't know, tanks...fish bowls...pools, ponds..."

"Wait a minute, there's got to be a connection here." He got up and began pacing, tapping his chin with his finger. "Besides the links between magic and Muggle worlds, what other connection is there?" he turned to face me, squinting at his glasses on his face.

"They've all been tourist attractions!" I caught on to his thinking. "All of them in London and all Muggle places."

"Right," he nodded as he pulled his glasses off to wipe them on his shirt. "So, where in Muggle London can you see creatures under water, without taking a swim?" he asked me.

I thought back to that pile of brochures we'd left back at the Ministry, wishing we'd brought them with us so I could check. "I think there was something in those brochures we found at her flat. I remember a leaflet with fish and sharks on the front anyway, but I can't remember what it was called." I closed my eyes, as though that was going to help, picturing the stupid brochure in my head.

"How about we go to the main entrance and the gift shop?" Harry suggested. "They might have brochures for other tourist attractions in London and we can check."

I agreed, knowing it was worth a look. I checked my watch as we headed off and noted we still had almost half an hour until I'd told everyone to meet up, so we had time to look. Though if we bumped into any of the others on the way, we'd let them know we found it already. The pair of us walked along in silence, neither of us sure where we were going since all the paths were like a maze. Stopping to check a map we passed, I glanced down at the other exhibits and gasped out loud.

"That's it!" I pointed to the sign. "An aquarium. I remember something about it in that bunch of brochures she had."

"Right, that makes sense." he nodded. "So, do you think it was the aquarium here?" he wondered, checking where it was in regards to our current location just in case.

I shook my head. "She's nuts, but I doubt she'd make it that easy. I think it had a different name in the brochure anyway. A sea centre or something?" I suggested, still trying to remember.

Harry nodded. "Sea Life centre?" he asked, I nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of that. Used to see posters for it whenever I travelled on the tube."

"Right, then that's where we're heading next. Now all we have to do is find everyone else," I muttered as we turned and headed back towards the fountain we'd arranged to meet at.

George was already there when we arrived. "Sorry bro, nothing with the owls. Though, the poor things did look bored with nothing to do – bet they'd rather be free delivering letters and stuff. Did you find anything?"

"We got it." I held up the note. "And we already worked out the clue. We have to go to the Sea Life Centre."

"The beach?" He looked hopeful.

"Fish," I replied vaguely. He just gave me a weird look in reply.

Whilst we waited for Neville and Anna to join us, Harry disappeared and came back with hot dogs for us all. He handed one to me and I was hesitant to take it. Somehow it felt wrong to be hanging around the zoo, munching on hot dogs whilst Hermione was probably suffering – it made me feel guilty.

"Come on, we haven't eaten a thing all day and we're going to need the energy," Harry encouraged me. "We might as well grab something to eat whilst we have a few minutes." he pointed out as George was already stuffing his face guilt free. People might make fun of me for always being hungry – but really it was a Weasley trait – even our little sister could healthily put away her own weight in food.

I sighed and took it from him, just nibbling at it. Truth be told, I wasn't that hungry. I felt more sick with worry than anything. But, he was right – we needed the energy because once we finally found where Céleste had taken Hermione, who knew what was coming.

We finished our impromptu lunch just as Neville and Anna finally joined us, both looking sorry that they hadn't managed to find anything. "Not to worry, we found it. Even worked the clue out already," Harry told them. "We were just waiting for you, sorry we couldn't let you know."

"Oh well," Neville shrugged, just relieved someone had had some luck. "So, where to next? This place is really weird!" he leant forward and whispered to us.

"Tell me about it!" George agreed with him.

"We're going to the sea life centre," Harry told them, leading us back to the place where we had snuck into the zoo to Disapparate again.

Seconds later we emerged from behind a parked ice cream van and made our way down the street towards the sea life centre – good thing Harry knew where it was. This was another one of those places crawling with tourists, especially as it was just across the river from the infamous landmark of Big Ben and the Muggle government and right next to the London eye – the crazy big wheel that rose above buildings and could be seen for miles. I had once asked Hermione about it when we ventured into Muggle London, she'd told me that Muggles paid for rides on it to see the view. Crazy! We could get the same view for free just by riding a broom!

We joined a short queue waiting to go in and then we all looked at one another in alarm when we realised how much the family in front of us were paying for tickets. Despite the pocket change Harry had used to buy us hot dogs, none of us had enough Muggle cash on us to gain entry.

"Shh, just follow my lead and don't say anything," Harry muttered to us when the family in front moved on and it was our turn. "Hi. Five adults please," he smiled at the cashier.

The rather sullen looking young man printed our tickets and pushed them forward. "That's £135," he requested.

"How much!" I hissed to no one in particular. I wasn't completely familiar with Muggle currency, but that still sounded expensive.

Harry scratched the back of his neck as he glanced behind us and his hand went to his pocket. Realising what his plan was, I moved in closer so nobody could see him pull his wand out of his pocket. Then, pointing it just beneath the counter, he muttered 'confundus' under his breath. The bloke blinked a couple of times, frowned and then handed over the tickets.

"Thanks. Enjoy your visit." He waved us through.

We all quickly piled into the building before anyone realised anything strange had happened. "That was rather risky," Anna muttered. She obviously hadn't been around us that often – risk was like our middle name.

"We had no choice," Harry replied. "I'll come back some time and make a donation or something. Maybe give something to the zoo as well," he decided. That was so Harry – hating to feel like he owed anyone anything.

"Right, well shall we all split up again and..." Neville began, before Anna cut him off.

"Wait!" she almost slapped him in her excitement. "Look!" She pointed to the side of the entrance hall we were still standing in.

We all looked to where she was pointing. On the wall was a large poster advertising the latest attraction added to the centre. "Sea dragons?" I asked, wondering what had her so excited about them.

"Yes," she went on brightly, "you said everything else has had links to both worlds, right?" she asked quietly. "Well, dragons a pretty big link, wouldn't you say?"

"Good thinking!" Harry nodded his approval. "We'll go look there first, if we have no luck, then we can split up," he decided as we all headed inside.

It was rather dark after we left the entrance hall, the next room was full of tanks and pools with various swimming creatures and little kids squealing as they reached into pools where they could touch some of the animals and plants. We all glanced around, none of us really knowing what we were looking for, I mean, how big were these sea dragons?

"Excuse me," Harry approached one of the guides. "Can you tell us where to find the sea dragons? My friend here," he pointed to Anna, "is a big fan of them," he added, smiling politely.

"Sure, I'll take you there," he replied and turned to smile at Anna. "Fascinating creatures you know," he tried to strike up a conversation with her. "They're related to the sea horse," he added.

"Oh, right." She smiled at him, yet shot a grimace at Harry for getting her into this predicament. The guide was obviously trying to flirt with her and she seemed most uncomfortable.

"Yes," he went on, failing to notice she wasn't into this. "They're usually only found off the coast of Australia, in their natural habitat that is."

"Uh huh," she nodded.

When he finally pointed out the tank, I almost groaned in disappointment. Having expected to find something more the size of a baby Norbert at least and perhaps to see them breathing fire under water, it was rather disappointing to see that these little creatures were smaller than the size of your average bowtruckle, bobbing about sedately in the water.

"That's them?" I asked.

"Yeah, aren't they cool?" he asked, only having eyes for Anna. "You know, like the sea horses, the male's have the babies," he winked.

She blushed and brushed her hair back from her face. "Oh, erm, well, I suppose that's handy," she replied.

I rolled my eyes and turned my back on them, beginning to look for anything that shouldn't be there. It didn't take long – either Céleste was getting bored with her pathetic game or she'd been running out of time because George instantly found it, just stuck to the side of the display, peeping out from beneath a poster of facts about the Sea Dragons. I pulled it out whilst the guide was still chatting away with Anna, and moved towards a light to be able to read it better. Harry and George followed. Neville, seemingly protective of his partner, was keeping an eye on her and the guide.

"Please let this finally tell me where she bloody is," I muttered to myself as I tore the envelope open.

' _You're n_ _early there. And soon we can be together Ron. This is the last clue, you can find us_ _where they_ _used to_ _bring the fish into London. A place now torn down and made fancy. Don't keep me waiting.'_

"Oh for fucks sake!" I hissed. "I'm sick of these cryptic clues. Can't she just tell us where they are?" I looked up at the other two as Neville and Anna joined us.

"Lose your boyfriend?" George quipped.

"He's not my boyfriend," she snapped at him. "Besides, I kept him out of your way, didn't I?" she asked, raising one eyebrow threateningly.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Harry asked, passing the note around.

We tossed ideas back and forth as we hurriedly made our way towards the exit through the rest of the centre. Neville jumped in fright when we had to pass through a shark tunnel and one swam rather close by him. We laughed at the look on his face and then felt bad when we realised that none of this situation was remotely funny.

Finally, after dragging Anna away from the playful penguins that she was gazing at fondly, we spilled out onto the street again, into fresh air and daylight that was fading quickly.

"I got it!" Harry exclaimed. "The docks," he then whispered when people looked around sharply at a strange man shouting nonsense on the street. "That was where the trawler boats once brought the fish into the city, right?"

We all shrugged – not having much of a clue about Muggle history. All of us apart from Anna that is. "Yes," she replied. "And most of those old warehouses and buildings on the dockside are now being pulled down and rebuilt into fancy flats and offices for rich people," she added excitedly.

"That's what she must mean by the place now torn down and made fancy," I commented, pointing to that sentence in her note.

"The only problem is," she paused, chewing on her bottom lip, "there are dozens of those buildings around the docks now."

We all gave her puzzled looks. "How do you know all this?" Harry wondered.

She looked a bit sheepish and then gave a tiny shrug of one shoulder. "My dad, he's a Muggle," she smiled fondly. "He used to sail one of the tourist boats on the Thames. When I was younger, I'd spend hours going up and down the river with him," she explained. "I still go out on boats with him sometimes, Dad likes the water," she went on, even though no one was listening to her anymore.

"Right, then you know what you're talking about," I decided, never having seen this part of Muggle London myself. Shall we get moving?" I asked, not waiting for anyone and marching on ahead away from the busy streets. I was more than eager to find Hermione and finally get this all over with. "We can just go over to the docks and...I don't know, start searching the buildings or something?"

Neville shrugged. "Its worked for us so far today, I suppose," he agreed, following me towards some bushes in a nearby square before the others joined us.

* * *

"This is fuckin' pointless!" I whined, angrily kicking a drinks can that had been discarded in the street. It skittered noisily across the road before crashing into a lamppost. "We're going to be here for hours, days even, if we have to search every last one of these damn buildings!" I was grumpy and tired and frustrated with this whole mess.

Anna looked around. "I did warn you there were a lot of them, but there seems to be even more here than I remember from just a few weeks ago." She sighed.

"And we're quickly losing daylight," I groaned, glancing up at the sky. The sun was setting fast, as it was wont to do this time of year. Some of the street lights had already come on and pretty soon we'd been wandering around in the dark. It was hard to believe we'd been searching for Hermione since the early hours of this morning and it felt as though we were no closer to actually saving her after running around the city on a ridiculous scavenger hunt all day!

"Should we split up?" Harry debated, knowing that we'd cover more ground that way, but also knowing that would leave us vulnerable without back up.

"Then what happens if one of us finds her?" Neville voiced what we were all thinking. "I mean, I doubt Céleste is going to give in easily, is she?"

"No," Harry sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "We'll need everyone to secure the area and get Hermione out of there safely, as well as capture Céleste." he realised. "But, Ron is also right about the fact we don't have time to search every building."

"Let me see that note again," Anna requested, holding her hand out for it. Harry rummaged in his pocket and handed it over, checking it was the right one first. We did have a collection of her stupid notes after all – but we had to keep them all for the MLE to build a case against her. Anna read it over silently a few times, murmuring to herself, which only served to increase my frustration.

"What?" I finally asked, throwing my hands in the air.

"We read it wrong. It actually says here," she pointed to the sentence, "a place now _being_ torn down, and made fancy."

"What bloody difference does that make?" I asked, exasperated. My girlfriend was being held captive by a psycho stalker and she wanted to correct our grammar? What the bloody fuckering hell?

"Because, that changes the meaning of the sentence. This way refers to a building that is currently being torn down and still under refurbishment. Like, a building site," she looked around at us all.

"I suppose that makes sense. Wow, one word can really change a whole sentence," Neville gave me an awkward glance and then looked away sharply when the fury I felt was apparently evident.

"So, we're looking for a bloody building site now?" I asked.

"Ron, mate," Harry started, grasping my shoulder. "We all know how you feel, it's understandable and we're pissed off too, but...we are trying to help here," he reminded me, making me feel like shit for snapping at people.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. We understand." Everyone mumbled a different reply at the same time.

"Well, this might make things a bit easier," Harry continued as though that discussion had never happened and looked towards the sky, shielding his eyes from the setting sun. "There seem to be a lot less building sites," he pointed out.

"Then let's go!" I marched off ahead of everyone, still fuming to myself. It almost choked me to think of how many hours Hermione had been held captive for now and my heart plummeted whenever I imagined what she may have been going through.

We apparated into building site after building site, thankful that they at least seemed to be devoid of workers as we searched around and were able to cast spells to help in our location. We revealed absolutely nothing and I was starting to feel this was pointless again. I was having to work hard to hold in my rage and not snap at everyone, but apparently my face didn't hide how I really felt.

"There was another one up here," Harry told me gently, sensing my anxiety increasing again. "I told you whatever it takes, we'll keep searching for her."

"Me too," George vowed.

"And me!" Neville jogged to catch up with us.

"Don't forget about me," Anna appeared from behind a pile of building materials.

"I know, and I do appreciate all this, really. But..."

"We _are_ going to find her," Harry repeated firmly, as though trying to convince himself of that fact. "Soon. Come on, let's go check that one," he pointed up the street a bit. We all spun on the spot, glad that this area seemed to be currently deserted and we didn't have to hide our magic so much.

Landing in yet another dusty, half derelict old building it took a few moments for us to get our bearings and adjust our eyesight. With no light, other than the glow from our wands which we all illuminated, we took off in different directions to search the place.

Just as with the other buildings, this was full of various tools abandoned at the end of the working day. Metal poles and wooden platforms that Harry explained to me were called scaffolding seemed to be holding certain parts up – Harry said it probably was. Plastic sheeting hung over various walls that fluttered in the wind as much of the entire place was open to the elements and it was an effort not to trip over rubble and planks of wood discarded carelessly on the floor.

Pushing back another dusty plastic curtain, I turned a corner, kicking at some rubble in anger. I was beyond frustrated now, I was bloody furious and starting to lose hope of ever safely finding the woman I loved. Having to duck to avoid a low beam, I looked up and noticed something strange, something that seemed to sparkle or glow. Curious, I hesitantly took a few steps closer and then my eyes widened when I realised what it was.

Hermione was encased in a ball of energy, floating and bobbing about in mid air. It seemed to have a pearly glow to it as the energy swirled around her. It almost reminded me of the bubble that Voldemort had kept his ugly snake in for protection during the battle. Somehow, I didn't think this was for Hermione's protection at all. More likely it was to keep her imprisoned. Inside, Hermione's body looked limp her head lolled forward and my heart dropped to my feet, my body turning cold as I feared the worst.

Almost under their own volition, my feet began speeding towards her, frantically screaming her name, trying to ignore the fact she wasn't responding. "Harry!" I yelled, just feet away from her. "I've got her, she's here!" Before I had chance to even touch the bubble or cast any kind of spell to break the charms on the sphere, a blast of energy from it knocked me back, sending me flying onto my backside and sliding across the ground.

I cursed as I got to my feet, rubbing my arse as I heard the rest of them come running towards me. They all gasped when they saw what I already had. Harry was signalling to Neville for the three of them to keep back and stay out of sight, a usual tactic deployed when dealing with the unknown.

"Ron?" There was a very faint, raspy whisper of my name. My head spun back towards Hermione and noted her lifting her head slightly, appearing very drowsy and rather frail. But she had moved, she had spoken my name. She was alive! My heart soared with hope.

"I'm here, love, I'm here. We're going to get you out of here," I promised her, approaching the spinning sphere more cautiously this time. "Finite Incantatum!" I shouted the words, pointing my wand at the ball. There was a faint fizz and some steam, but otherwise nothing happened. "What the fuck?" I glanced at Harry, wondering how we were going to get her out of there if that didn't work.

He was studying the sphere, whilst I kept my gaze firmly on Hermione, hoping to give her some strength, begging her to hang in there.

And that was when I heard the slow, droll clapping of hands coming towards us.

I took a step back in apprehension and glanced over, seeing Céleste appear from behind a curtain of plastic. A sardonic smiled twisted her features, making her suddenly appear frightening and as crazy as we thought she must be. "I am impressed," she cocked one eyebrow. "You have made it 'ere very fast. Was zhat for me or for 'er?" She shot Hermione a look of pure hatred. "Tell me Ron," she softened her gaze as she looked back at me, "is she really worth all zhis effort?" she laughed. "When you know we could be 'appy togezher."

"Let her go!" I roared at her, sprinting towards her, intent on wringing her bloody neck.

"Ah ah ah!" she shook her finger menacingly. "I would not do zhat if I were you." And as she said it, she lifted her wand and I heard Hermione scream behind me. I stopped instantly, twisting back to find Hermione spasm in obvious pain within that damn glowing bubble. That sound had haunted some of my very worst nightmares ever since our experience in Malfoy Manor. It was a sound I had never wanted to hear again.

Harry was suddenly at my side, pulling me back and muttering in my ear. "We need to keep her calm," he realised.

Facing Céleste again, I folded my arms defiantly across my chest and fixed her with an intense gaze. "What do you want? Why are you doing this?" I demanded.

"You know why Ron. To free you, so zhat we can be togezher." She spoke softly, the way you would to a lover and it made me want to be sick.

"Look, if you truly care about me, then let her go. If you cared anything for me, you'd want me to be happy and you wouldn't hurt those I love."

"Love!" She laughed, sounding rather maniacal. "You do not know real love, Ronald. But, I see 'er spell is still working on you."

"There is no damn spell!" I spat. "I love her...I always have."

"Ron," she sighed and shook her head, sounding as though she pitied me because I was rather simple. "Zhis…zhing," she glanced at Hermione with disdain, "is no good for you. She doesn't appreciate you. She is using you and 'as you trapped and be'aving foolishly, I might add. You know it's me you should be with."

I cursed under my breath, really wishing I could just strangle the daft cow or at least stupefy her simply to shut up her nonsense ramblings. Out of the corner of my eyes, I noted Neville, Anna and George all circling around into place so that we had her covered, yet managing to stay hidden. I knew she'd only seen Harry and myself – I doubted she had any idea we had further back up. Somehow I had to keep her talking to distract her whilst I hoped they'd come up with a plan.

"Look," I decided to try a new tactic with her. "Please, just let her go. We, we can say you made a mistake, that you co-operated with us. We can work on getting you a reduced sentence or some help or something," I offered.

"You zhink I care about zhat?" she shrieked at me. I noted it didn't take much to tip her over the edge.

"Well, you can't very well be with anyone if you're locked up for kidnapping and holding someone hostage, can you?" I wanted to roll my eyes, but I was afraid of making her mad and causing her to hurt Hermione again.

"I 'appen to zhink some zhings are worth it." She smiled at me, a sickly smile that I wanted to slap off her smug face.

"Why the hell do you want to be with me? You barely even know me!" I yelled back. It wasn't easy to keep my cool in these situations. And especially not with the love of my life suffering close by.

"Ron's right, we can help you," Harry added. "We'll put in a good word for you, and..."

"Oh shut up perfect Potter!" she spat, giving him an indifferent glance, as though he didn't matter.

"Céleste, please. This is killing me..."

"She is the one who is killing you!" She violently jabbed her wand in Hermione's direction and I flinched, expecting Céleste to curse her again. "She is draining you, mixing up your emotions. She still 'as you under 'er evil little spell and poisoning your mind. But, 'ow is she doing zhat? Is it a potion, do I need to flush your system to get 'er away from you?" She was muttering to herself, pacing up and down and wringing her hands together.

"Harry," I hissed whilst she was distracted, "what are we going to do? You have any idea how to get Hermione out of there?" I asked, pleadingly, gazing at her limp body suspended in that ball.

He shook his head. "Just...keep her distracted, she'll only talk to you. I don't think she's seen the others, as soon as we get a clear shot..." he faded off as Céleste turned to face us again.

"Maybe, maybe I can finally free you from 'er if she is gone, if I got rid of 'er. Yes!" she exclaimed as the evil smile grew on her deranged face. "Zhat is it! It must be zhe only way." She looked far too pleased with herself as she lifted her wand, pointing it straight at Hermione.

"NO!" I yelled, seeing in her eyes what she was going to do and jumping directly in the line of fire.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled at the same time.

She deflected it, casting his spell aside and glared at him. "You dare try to disarm me?" she yelled at him, her voice high pitched as though Bellatrix herself had risen from the grave. "You?" she pointed her wand at him.

As she did that, there was a roar as a sudden gust of powerful wind engulfed us, swirling in a vortex around the pair of us. Céleste and I were trapped together in the centre, whilst outside chaos reigned. It was as though we were in the eye of a storm.

I panicked as I glanced at Harry who was barely able to stand upright in the gusts of wind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Neville clinging to a post so he didn't blow away whilst George was helping Anna to her feet, both having been knocked over. The dusty sheets of plastic whipped back and forth in the wind until some eventually tore free and floated away. Dust and debris became swept up in the swirling winds, choking and threatening to knock the others out.

Harry tried to approach us, holding tight to his wand and staggering in the gusts slowly, but was blown back each time. It was all any of them could do not to be blown away...all except for Hermione still seemingly unconscious and trapped in the magical sphere. The ball barely moved, it must have been tethered to Céleste's magic.

Without any back up, trapped alone as I was, I knew this was down to me and that I was going to have to do something rather drastic for us all to get out here alive. "Céleste, listen to me. You're..." I paused, trying to ignore the fact that Hermione was somewhere behind me and she might be able to hear. I just had to hope she would understand that I didn't mean what I was about to say next. I swallowed and began again, "you're right, I...I don't care for her. I...she's had me blinded, all this time." I took a few very cautious steps even closer to her.

She was smiling, that same big smile she had often given me in the halls of The Ministry whenever she saw me. "I knew it." She giggled, girlishly. "Now, just let me get rid of 'er, zhen she can never interfere again and we can be 'appy togezher forever." She looked far too delighted at the idea of killing her and that sickened me.

"NO!" I shouted perhaps too hastily and rather loudly. "I, I mean you can't, because, well because if you harm her, then he's going to cart you off to Azkaban," I nodded my head towards Harry who I could see was looking at me strangely beyond the whirling veil of this wind. "And if you're in prison, then we can't be together, can we?" I whispered softly, now standing directly in front of her. "And, I want to be with you, I really do. I realise that now." I gave her what I hoped was a genuine smile.

"You, you do?" she asked, tilting her head with what would have been a rather sentimental expression on her face, as though she was touched and awed by my admission. Would have been, had it not been for that crazed look in her eyes.

"Uh huh," I nodded. "Hermione...she," I swallowed a large lump in my throat, "she means nothing to me."

"I knew it!" She looked positively gleeful "Oh Ronald, 'ow awful zhis must 'ave been for you, bein' with 'er." She reached out and softly stroked my cheek with the back of her hand, I fought not to recoil away from her touch, to let her believe I was sincere, whilst also hoping Hermione and our friends realised this was all an act.

"I know, but now you've saved me," I grinned at her, softening my expression as I placed a hesitant hand on her hip. "And if you let her go, we can walk away and finally be together. Just you and me," I offered.

"Oh Ron," she sighed. "I always knew it. I saw it the first time we met, zhat you liked me." She stepped closer and looped her arms around my neck. "I do love you," she murmured, gently laying her head on my chest.

I placed my hands on her waist, rather gingerly, and over her shoulder I caught sight of George edging forward. I shook my head, mouthing 'no' to him as I waved him back. Just a few more moments and I hoped my plan would work, but I needed to do something else first. George shot me a rather startled look and I realised that perhaps they couldn't hear everything that was going on within the relative calm of the funnel inside the crazy wind still blowing around us, that he probably assumed I was in danger. But then, he seemed to trust my judgement as he shrugged and backed up behind the pillar where he'd been hiding.

"Yeah...you too," I replied, pulling back from her as I lied through my teeth. "So, cancel the spell on her and we won't have any trouble. Harry can take her back and tell everyone she was fine, all a misunderstanding and we can go away together. How does that sound?" I asked.

"Ron! No!" I heard Hermione's feeble voice behind me. The sound almost broke my heart. I don't know if she thought this was for real, that I was going to leave her for Céleste, or whether she thought I was going to sacrifice myself for her. I knew I would if it came down to it – it wasn't the first time I was prepared to die for someone I loved after all.

"Shut up!" I yelled at her, not daring to turn and look at her, knowing that would be my undoing. "I don't care about you any more! I...I've had enough of you!" I snapped. This made the smile on Céleste's face grow wide and yanked me into her arms again.

"Kiss me," she begged, tilting her face up towards mine.

"Cancel the spell," I whispered in reply, allowing her to draw me closer.

"Kiss me first," she murmured, her lips now so close to mine I could feel her breath on my face.

Our lips touched, hers pressing rough and demanding against mine, grasping hold of my head and pulling me into the kiss. ' _Oh, Merlin….please let Hermione forgive me'_ , I thought in my head. _'_ _T_ _his means nothing, nothing at all...in fact she's going to make me sick',_ I thought to myself. The kiss was sloppy and immature, yet crude and violent at the same time. A perfectly repulsive kiss – the worst I'd ever had. Nothing like the sweet, passionate kisses from Hermione. Not even like the somewhat unskilled, yet eager kisses with Lavender had been. This was simply...disgusting.

"Undo the spell Céleste," I whispered as I pulled back from her lips.

She had a dopey look on her face, as though she was drunk as she smiled dreamlike at me, her eyes half closed and her head all floaty until she rested it against my chest again. "Okay," she sighed.

I felt her hand leave my back and raise her wand as she muttered something in French under her breath. There was a pop and then a loud panicked shriek before a thud hit the floor that I knew to be Hermione.

"NOW!" I yelled, grasping hold of her and then spinning Céleste out of my arms, away from me and away from the protection of the eye of the storm we'd been huddled in.

Fast as lightening, as soon as she emerged from that shield, Harry hit her with a cry of 'Expelliarmus' again, this time successfully disarming her as her wand flew from her hand into Harry's grasp. Céleste stood there, frozen and alarmed, looking frightened all of a sudden.

"Finite Incantatum!" Anna shouted, finally ending the bloody wind.

"Ron!" Céleste begged me, thinking this was a mistake, that I hadn't double crossed her. She tried to run back to me, a look of horror on her face as things slowly dawned on her. "No! You love me! How could you!" She screamed at me, her arms reaching out blindly, scrabbling to attack me.

Before she could even lay a hand on me, there was a flash of light and someone yelled 'Impedimenta', stunning her for a second and throwing her back away from me slightly before she began sobbing and darted behind a large pile of bricks. "I trusted you," she whimpered. "I...I thought you loved me."

"You don't know the meaning of the bloody word!" I spat at her.

Neville crept towards the pile of bricks and cast 'Reducto', sending them into a pile of dust and revealing Céleste cowering behind. Harry and George were hot on his heals. One of them, most likely Harry, successfully hit her with 'Stupefy', rendering her unconscious as she collapsed to the ground. At the same time, George cast the body bind curse on her, paralysing her until she was completely rigid.

Realising they had it all in hand, I didn't even glance back at her as I sped to Hermione's side where she lay in a heap on the floor. Skidding to my knees beside her, I gently touched her face, afraid of how injured she may be and not wanting to hurt her. "Hermione," I murmured softly, stroking her face with my fingers. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. I love you," I whispered whilst smothering her face in gentle, light kisses.

Her eyes opened slightly, looking up at me. "What took you?" she asked softly, before her eyes closed again.

"I'm sorry, my love. Forgive me. I didn't mean any of what I told her. I, Merlin, I love you." I bent and buried my face in her neck, sobbing onto her. "Hermione?" I asked, aware she'd gone very still. "Hermione?" I asked louder, shaking her gently. Her arm lolled out to the side, weak and useless. "Harry!" I yelled to him. "I've got to go, Hermione needs help. You got this?" I asked, already getting to my feet with my girlfriend cradled in my arms.

"Go!" he immediately replied. "Get her help. We can finish up here. Go!" he repeated.

I didn't need telling again, I kissed her forehead and held her tight against me. "It's going to be all right. love," I whispered. "You're going to be fine," I added, trying to convince myself of the fact as I Disapparated away with her.

* * *

 _Sorry…I'm leaving you on a bit of a cliff hanger again – next chapter isn't actually a chapter at all – it's the finale and it's an epilogue. Coming soon...and I shall reply personally to readers after that – providing you review (and have an account on here) that is – unable to reply to guests!_

 _Thank you x_


	16. Epilogue

_So...here's the final part of this story. I won't go on and shall just let you read...but check out the end for a couple of notes._

 _Disclaimer: My usual disclaimer (on my profile) applies._

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **Two Weeks Later**

I stood quietly in the doorway of Hermione's childhood bedroom, leaning against the door jamb with my arms folded and my ankles crossed, just watching as she finished filling a box with books, framed photos and other personal items. Moving the box aside, she discovered an old, rather floppy looking toy bunny that had obviously been much loved and had probably seen better days. Grasping the stuffed toy, she tweaked it's nose as she screwed up her own nose at it and then rubbed it against her face before making a hasty decision and stuffed the toy into the box as well.

Closing the cardboard flaps, she gazed around her now near empty bedroom, checking for anything else she may have missed. When she found me watching her, her face lit up with a huge smile.

"Is this the last one?" I asked, stepping into her room and nodding towards the box on her bed.

"Yes," she nodded, biting her lip and looking around her room again. "I think I have everything I'll need," she replied, sounding a little unsure.

"Well, if not, it won't take a couple of minutes to come and pick it up," I pointed out and took out my wand, using magic to send it directly to it's destination rather than having to travel with it.

"Yes, I know. But..." she faded off, worrying her bottom lip again.

I gathered her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. "Are you sure this is what you want?" I asked as she wrapped her small arms around me.

"You know it is." She looked up, resting her chin on my chest. "This makes sense, I know that. And it's probably time I moved out of my parents," she added as she lay her head over my heart and gave a soft sigh. "I really do want to live with you," she murmured, tightening her hold on me.

I had to grin to myself as my hands ran up and down her back. I was thrilled she'd agreed to come and live with me. Well us, I suppose, since it was still Harry's place of residence too. But Hermione and I would really be sharing a room now, sharing space, domestic duties and, well everything.

Harry had been fine when I'd asked his opinion about it. Laughing about it even, since he thought we practically lived together as it was. But, I think he liked the idea of the three of us living together in the same building once again. However, after he'd had more time to think about it and, I suspected, a conversation with Ginny, he started working on a brand new set of house rules for us all to follow. Rules I planned on breaking at every given opportunity!

Although we were excited to be moving in together, the last couple of weeks had been somewhat difficult. Hermione had understandably been on a roller-coaster of emotions after being abducted and held hostage and whatever else had happened to her, because she didn't want to talk about it much since the whole affair had resurfaced nightmares for her. To be fair, some of those nightmares were haunting me too – I was again having horrid dreams of her being taken or tortured where I couldn't do anything to help her.

We had learnt that we were strongest when we were together, so when I once again brought up the subject of us living together, she latched onto the idea and agreed wholeheartedly that it made perfect sense for us. The pair of us simply needed one another and needed to be together.

Of course, our decision brought about a whole new kind of battle - informing our parents. I'm pretty sure they weren't stupid and, although they might have tried to deny it to themselves, they must have realised by now that whatever they feared may happen between us through living together, had already happened. I mean, neither of us were exactly blushing virgins here and we are adults, of legal age. But, your parents are your parents and never seem to want you to grow up or think of you having a sex life. Come to think of it, I never wanted to think about our parents having a sex life either!

In the end, both sets of parents had listened to our reasoning and seen things from our point of view, they realised we were being responsible and came to understand this was what we needed, what the next logical step should be in our relationship.

"I just think Mum's really going to miss me," Hermione muttered, fiddling with a pulled loop of wool on the sleeve of my jumper.

"You're still going to see them all the time you know," I pointed out. "I moved out of my parents a year ago, yet I probably see them now much more than I ever did when we were at school!"

"That's true. But...I think it's more about her not wanting to accept I'm a grown up." She rolled her eyes. "Or that their little girl is now a lady."

"A very beautiful, smart, brave lady," I grinned and kissed her forehead.

She smiled up at me and took my hands. "What did my Mum want by the way?" She wondered why I'd been called downstairs a few minutes ago.

I couldn't help it, I laughed. "Oh, she was looking through some old photo albums and just wanted to show me some of your baby pictures," I grinned impishly.

"She didn't?" Her eyes widened as she gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh Merlin!" she groaned.

"Oh shush, you were adorable. All pudgy and cute with a great mop of hair." I chuckled.

She ran a hand over her hair self consciously. "My hair has always been something of a disaster," she complained.

"I happen to love it. And anyway, I know Mum has shown you plenty of photos of me – including the ones of me splashing around naked in the kitchen sink!" I shuddered at the thought. I was going to have to destroy those photos some day!

"And don't forget those ones of you dancing around in the garden when your brothers dressed you in Ginny's clothes." She giggled.

"The gits!" I smiled, good naturedly as I shook my head. In all honesty, it was good to see her laughing again, to see her getting back to her normal self. I hadn't known what to expect after we had rescued her from Céleste's evil clutches.

It had all been rather chaotic at the end there and my first and only concern in the aftermath was getting Hermione some medical help. I had taken Hermione straight to St Mungos, where she had still been unconscious upon arrival. After putting her through a couple of tests, a Healer had explained to me that she was physically, emotionally and magically exhausted. He'd asked me if she'd been using a lot of magic or under any extreme stress recently! Had I not been so worried about my girlfriend, I would have laughed in his face!

It had taken a couple of powerful Rennervate spells to bring her around and then Healers had insisted on keeping her in hospital overnight, doped up on potions so as she could regain her strength. Once everything had been dealt with and Céleste was safely in custody, Harry, George and Neville had popped in to see how Hermione was doing – they were all relieved when I was able to tell them that after some rest, she was going to be fine.

Hermione was sent home the following day with further potions and instructed to take it easy for a couple of days. That included no going in to work and myself insisting on staying home with her. With plenty of rest, physically and magically she recovered quite quickly, but emotionally it took longer. The whole incident had stirred up some pretty bad memories for me, so it must have been hell for her to deal with. It was something we were working through together and one of the reasons she agreed to move in – she didn't want to be without me right now.

The situation with Céleste wasn't so easy to solve. Although we had her in custody at the Ministry to await trial for her crime, no one really knew what to do with her. It was obvious she was very mentally disturbed and needed medical help. A Healer had already examined her and said she showed signs of a serious psychosis, but no one really knew the cause. No one had yet been able to trace any past medical records. So, did you commit her to the Janus Thickey ward at St Mungos or did you lock her up in Azkaban? Either way, she couldn't be allowed to be loose within the community – it was obvious she was a threat to others and probably herself.

According to Harry, from what he'd been told by colleagues in charge of the detainees, ever since regaining consciousness and finding herself alone in a cell, Céleste had been throwing a tantrum. Screaming about how I betrayed her one minute and then crying and begging for me the next. Even threatening to kill herself if she couldn't be with me. Maybe I was cruel, but I had no intention whatsoever of going to see her – after what she'd done and put us through, can you blame me? Besides, I wasn't sure I'd be able to control my temper around her – I probably wasn't safe to visit her.

I'd heard that MLE were investigating her background, trying to find out where she'd come from and how long she'd been mentally disturbed. She had clearly lied on her job application, since they couldn't trace any history for her with the information they had. There was no hint of any family or friends back home. Even contacting the French Ministry hadn't helped. They said they'd put word out about her, but no one had come along to claim her or anything. I suppose it was all rather sad that she was alone, as though she'd been cast out into the world and no one seemed to miss her or care about her. I guess that would explain a lot. But, I wasn't big on sympathy towards her right now – she'd tried to kill the most important person in my life, it was going to take time for me to forgive that.

"So, are you ready to go?" I wondered, shaking my head to escape those memories and thoughts that had crept in.

"I suppose so," she sighed, giving her room one last wistful glance around.

It wasn't entirely bare – there were still a few old posters on her wall and framed certificates from Primary school. One shelf was still stuffed with childhood Muggle books and another with more stuffed toys and literacy awards from her years at Muggle school. As well as little oddments here and there – I knew her wardrobe wasn't entirely empty either. Since the flat was rather small and we'd be sharing one room, she was only bringing things with her that were a necessity right now. But still, I knew she was kind of sad to be actually moving out of here. As though she were leaving behind her Muggle life and her childhood.

"We can come back any time you want," I promised her, giving her a hug before taking her hand and leading her from the room.

"I know," she said softly, closing the door behind her – it was kind of symbolic in a way. "And thank you," she reached up on her tiptoes and planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. "Come on," she tugged on my hand, "we'll go say goodbye to my parents and then we can get going." She offered me a small smile as we traipsed downstairs.

"Are you off now then?" her Mum asked as we stepped into the lounge and she put her magazine aside. Her Dad looked up from the TV as she spoke.

"Yes. We're supposed to meet with friends for drinks," Hermione explained.

"Actually, they'll be waiting for us," I added, checking my watch, noting we were supposed to meet them a few minutes ago.

"Have you got everything sweetheart? Oh, I'm going to miss you!" Mrs Granger sniffed as she pulled her daughter in for a hug.

"Mum," Hermione chuckled lightly. "You're going to see me all the time. I mean, we promise to come over for dinner at least once a week. And, I'll be popping in so much at other times you won't even remember I'm not living at home any more." She squeezed her mum back.

"I know," Mrs Granger tucked a strand of hair back behind Hermione's ear. "But it's not going to be the same is it?"

"No Mum, it's not. But, it's time and this is what we both want."

She gave us both a brave, rather forced smile. "I'm sorry, I promised myself I wasn't going to do this," she chuckled at herself lightly and dabbed at her eyes, pulling Hermione in for another cuddle.

"You make sure you look after her, you hear?" Her dad spoke, waiting for his wife to let their daughter go so he could also give her a hug.

"Of course sir," I nodded.

"Dad, he always does," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Besides, I can look after myself," she added.

"Maybe so," he replied gruffly and I saw that warning glint in his eye. "But, if I ever find out he's hurt you or..."

"Oh Dad," Hermione chuckled, finding him amusing as she fell into his arms.

I gulped, hoping I would never give him reason to carry out his unspoken threat.

"Well, we'd best let the two of you get on. You'll be keeping your friends waiting," Mrs Granger spoke up, nudging her husband.

"Yes. So, we'll see you on Wednesday night, for dinner?" Hermione checked.

Mrs Granger nodded. "I'll make your favourite."

Hermione hugged her parents once more, then her Mum surprised me with a hug too, Her Dad shook my hand quite firmly before we managed to escape and Disapparate.

* * *

"About time!" I heard my brother grumbling whilst Neville waved us over to their table in the corner.

"Sorry," Hermione apologised, sliding onto the bench beside Ginny, "We got held up by my parents."

"Problems?" Ginny asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Not really. I think they're just sad about letting me go."

Ginny nodded and smiled in sympathy – she knew all about that. My Mum had burst into tears when Ginny left for training camp, she still got upset whenever she had to go back or was away for matches, which was usually a weekly event!

"Well, it's lovely to see you out again," Hannah spoke up from beside Neville.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled and shifted awkwardly in her seat. Besides going to work or visiting our parents, Hermione hadn't wanted to leave the flat much since it had happened – understandable really. So, it was rather monumental that she had suggested going out tonight herself. "Things are going well I see?" She nodded towards Neville and raised an eyebrow at his arm that was resting across Hannah's shoulders. The pair of them blushed and Neville shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Oh, erm, yeah," Hannah stammered. "Shall I get you some drinks?" She got up rather abruptly and asked us what we'd like.

"Oh, I'll have a glass of elderflower wine, please," Hermione answered.

"Just a beer for me," I replied. "Whatever you have on tap is fine. Thanks," I then added as an afterthought.

"Angelina!" Hermione suddenly noticed her sat beside George. She gave me a sideways glance and jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow. Obviously she had noted what I just had – how my brother's hand was resting on her knee, quite casually and how comfortable they seemed with one another. I gave her a slight shrug, answering her unasked question about when that had started. Is that why George's mood seemed more...almost back to his usual self of late? If so, I was glad and very grateful to Angelina.

"Hi Hermione, Ron," she nodded. "I hope you don't mind me tagging along tonight? George told me about what happened," she lowered her voice, "and I'm so glad you're all right."

"Thank you," Hermione replied meekly – she really hated talking about it. We hadn't even really told her parents what had happened, just that there had been an accident at work that had landed her in hospital for a few hours, but she was fine now. "And, of course. It's lovely to see you here, erm...with...George?" she tried to ask innocently.

"Oh, yes," she chuckled and gave a smug smile when George threw his arm around her shoulders.

Hannah returned then with our drinks, we thanked her and I took a long swig – after the warnings and unspoken threat from Hermione's father, I needed it.

"So, now that we're all here..." Hermione began, setting her glass down.

"Not quite. Anna's not here yet." Neville looked around for her.

"Anna?" she questioned.

"Yeah, a fellow Auror, she's my usual working partner. She was, you know, there too," he explained, understanding how awkward Hermione was still about it.

"Oh, right," she nodded. "We'll wait a bit longer then." She picked up her drink again and took another sip, fiddling with the stem of the glass.

"So, Ron," Harry leaned forward, away from Ginny. "Hermione's dad give you the third degree, did he?" he laughed.

"No, he did not!" I snapped.

"Really? He didn't get all protective and warning and stuff?" He was finding this all highly amusing.

"He was actually perfectly polite," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, besides, I only have to worry about her dad. You've got all us brothers to be worried about as well, so watch it!" I warned him.

"Yeah!" From across the table George made a show of cracking his knuckles.

Ginny slipped her hand behind Hermione and slapped the back of my head and judging from the yelp opposite, she had kicked George under the table as well.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head.

"Leave my boyfriend alone!"

"Fine, then tell your boyfriend to quit winding me up!" I shot back.

"Children!" George tutted across the table and shook his head, though he was bending awkwardly as though rubbing his leg. Angelina rolled her eyes at the pair of us.

I made a move to give him the finger, right before Hermione snatched my hand back down, giving me a warning look, rather reminiscent of the look her father had given me earlier. Seconds later, before any further arguing could erupt, Anna burst through the doors and hurried towards us.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" she gasped, pausing to unfasten her jacket. I, sort of...got held up." She looked around the table at everyone. "Oh, you're all in couples," she realised, feeling a little conspicuous standing alone, fiddling with the scarf around her neck.

"Here, sit down," Neville, ever the gentleman, pulled a chair out for her. "And, I told you to bring someone if you wanted, since we'd all probably be with someone."

"Yes, I know," she nodded and avoided looking at anyone as she sat down and began unwinding her scarf. "But, you see my girlfriend..." she began.

We looked at her silently, not having seen that one. "Well," I began, not wanting to make her feel awkward, "you should have brought her. I mean, makes no difference to us or anything," I smiled and Hermione stroked my knee in response.

"Oh," she flapped her hand and set her bag on the floor. "Like I care less what you lot think of knowing I'm gay," she rolled her eyes. "As I was saying," she looked towards me, daring for me to interrupt her again, "my girlfriend is actually, well, she's a Muggle. And...I haven't actually told her about this world yet," she admitted, shrugging out of her jacket.

"Oh!" Hermione looked more surprised by that piece of information than any of us had been at discovering her sexuality. "That's going to be difficult."

"Yes," she sighed, looking wistful. "I feel awful keeping it from her, but..." she shrugged.

"Our laws are a bit tricky to find any kind of loophole," Hermione nodded, knowingly.

"Yes! I don't know how other couples get around it. I suppose I'll have to do something soon though," she sighed, now finally settled in her seat

"Anyway, can I get you a drink?" I offered, it was the least I could do after she'd ran around London with us and was a huge help in finding Hermione. "Anyone else?" I asked, draining my own glass and was about to stand up.

"Hold on," Hermione grabbed my wrist before I could move. "Before you do that, since we're now all here, I just wanted us to get together so that I could thank you all for, well, rescuing me. For helping Ron and going to all that trouble."

"It was no trouble Hermione," Neville reached over and patted her hand that rested on the table.

"Yeah. Come off it, you mean a lot to all of us Hermione." George spoke up. "Besides, we had to find you, who else would enjoy scolding me as much as you?" he laughed.

"Me?" Angelina nudged him in the ribs. George's eyes widened as he looked at Angelina, wondering perhaps just what he'd gotten himself into in dating her.

"Me or mum?" Ginny suggested.

"Too many strong minded women in this bloody family," I heard him mutter as he picked up his glass and took a shot of firewhiskey – his drink of choice.

"Well, I'm just sorry I wasn't around to kick her skinny little arse!" Ginny hissed.

"And, whilst we're at it," Harry began, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "I want to again apologise for not listening to Ron when he tried to tell me something was wrong. I feel so guilty, because we could probably have saved you hours before we did."

"27th time, Harry, mate!" I rolled my eyes. He hadn't stopped apologising for that – to Hermione or myself. I knew he felt bad, but it was getting rather annoying.

"Harry, I've already told you to forget about that!" She told him firmly.

"Yeah, but perhaps you'll listen to me next time!" I quipped.

Hermione gave me this little look, out of the corner of her eye and then slowly shook her head. "Anyway, you all found me in time and managed to stop her. I just," she fiddled with her glass again, "well, I wanted to let you all know how grateful I am to have such good friends and people who are important to me." She looked up and gave a sheepish kind of smile to everyone sat around the table. I reached under and squeezed her hand.

"Don't mention it," Neville was almost blushing as Hannah looked on proudly.

"Here here!" George spoke up and raised his glass in a toast. We all did the same and clinked glasses.

"To friendship!" Ginny added as she gave Hermione a playful nudge next to her. She smiled and gave her a brief hug in return.

"Right, how about I get those drinks in now?" I stood up. "Anna?"

"Oh, erm...just a Butterbeer thanks" she requested, looking pleased to be included with us all. I gave her a smile and a nod and she knew what it meant. Then everyone else began shouting their orders at me as well.

"I'll come and help," Hermione decided, standing and catching up with me, slipping her hand into mine as we walked towards the bar.

As we waited to be served at the bar, I turned to face Hermione. "I've been thinking," I began, "about taking you out to the zoo this weekend."

"The zoo?" she asked with an expression of wonder on her face.

"Yeah," I shrugged, now feeling awkward. "When we were there, looking for the, erm clues," I mumbled. "Well, you see I saw other couples there and, it...it sort of looked like something fun and maybe romantic to do," I stumbled over my words and felt myself blushing a bit. "But then I gave it a bit more thought, whilst you were in the hospital, and I realised you'd probably hate that, seeing animals caged up and stuff. So, forget about it." I exhaled rather loudly.

"Hold on," she took hold of my hand again. "Yes, whilst I do think some zoo's are somewhat outdated and inhumane, I do realise they still have a place in our world sometimes. I mean, some of them have excellent breeding programmes to help conserve endangered species. Experts need places like that to research animals so we can educate people and try to prevent further animals becoming extinct in the future. I'm not so narrow-minded that I can't appreciate there are some benefits to them. And as long as the animals have good sized enclosures, are treated fairly and allowed to behave as they would in their natural environment, then I'm not totally against them. And..."

"Okay, love," I interrupted her with a laugh. "I get the idea."

Hermione gave me her familiar look of being slightly offended, until she laughed too. "Sorry, I was going on again, wasn't I?"

I pulled a face, looking as though I was trying to work out something difficult. "Just a bit," I replied. She playfully swiped my chest in response. "Anyway, even if we don't go to the zoo, I do want to take you out more, go on more exciting dates together. And I promise to back off and give you more space when you need it. I know it's going to be a bit of an adjustment living together and I realise now that we don't always have to do everything together. But I promise that I am going to try and get better and be a better boyfriend for you."

"Ron..." she sighed my name. "You already are. When I said I was grateful for having good friends and important people, what I didn't add was that _you_ are the most important person in my life. I know that you will always have my best interests at heart and look out for me. That you'll be there for me and strive to make me happy, just because you love me," she paused and inhaled deeply. "And, that means more to me than any date, even trips to the zoo." She chuckled.

I smiled, brushing her hair back from her face. "That's good to know," I replied, lowering my voice until it sounded rather husky.

"I love you Ron. I don't want you to change anything." She returned my smile and slid her arms around me

"Also good to know, because, I happen to love you too," I replied and lowered my head to kiss her lips, ignoring the jeers that came from our table across the pub, courtesy of my brother and sister. I gave them the finger behind Hermione's back, leaning in to kiss my girlfriend with a little more passion. She didn't seem to mind as her arms tightened around me and returned the kiss.

For now, things looked bright for myself and Hermione. The most recent threat was over and, although I knew it probably wouldn't be the last time any of us came into danger, right now we could get back to living our lives. We were taking the next big step in our relationship, the next step forward. And I knew, providing I didn't mess this up and so long as Hermione still felt the same, that in the future we were going to be taking many more big steps forward in our relationship.

And, we were going to be taking them together.

* * *

 _Thank you all SO very much for all of your lovely reviews and comments and likes. I honestly wasn't sure about this story, because it was the first time I have tried to write some kind of mystery or adventure, so the fact that you all seemed to enjoy it really meant a lot to me. Thank you._

 _I will be replying personally to everyone who has left me a review soon...everyone that has an account anyway, since I can't reply to guests. But, please know that I appreciate every comment and like from those signed in or not._

 _I go away the end of next week, but when I come back I shall start getting something ready to begin posting again. I have 2 or 3 stories that are already written in at least draft format (needs lots of editing) and those people who review and I reply to will have the chance to vote for which of those I post next (I'll give you a little synopsis of each in my replies to let you decide)_

 _Thanks again and I hope this ending meets with your approval...let me know!_


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